


If You Are the Desert, I’ll be the Sea (If You Ever Hunger, Hunger for Me)

by glitterfics



Category: Blade (Movie Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Small Fandom Big Bang, Smut, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 21:52:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18374777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterfics/pseuds/glitterfics
Summary: Centuries ago, Drake was betrayed by a handful of his own people who killed his betrothed and then imprisoned Drake in a magically sealed tomb. Now he has been freed only to discover that vampires have become greed ridden shadows of their former selves and who actually believed that he'd chosen to sleep voluntarily. Worse still, they initiated a war with the werewolves - in his name, no less - and hunted his former allies and friends to near extinction.Biding his time in order to learn more about this new world before taking his rightful position as the Vampire King, Drake discovers that not all the remaining werewolves had gone into hiding. One had joined a group of human hunters and brazenly used his abilities in the open as he hunted all the vampires he could find. As soon as they met, Drake knew that he had to make the wolf his but would Hannibal King give in to their mutual attraction as they worked together to bring about the downfall of these modern vampires?





	1. Chapter One - Drake

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Small Fandom Bang 2019 and betaed by the icing to my cupcake; lazydazyfics.  
> Title from Father Figure by George Michael.

With a gasp, Drake opened his eyes. He was still surrounded by the blackness that even his preternatural eyesight couldn't penetrate. His limbs were still held immobile by the magical bindings which had been pressed upon him so very long ago. The air was still stale and dust-filled. Everything was the same as it had been for centuries but _something_ had disturbed his slumber. 

He concentrated and _there!_ There it was; very faint, muffled and far above him but there was definitely the sound of movement where there had been none for longer than Drake cared to think about. Someone had found his prison. 

Lessons learned when first entombed meant that Drake knew any shouting on his part would go unheard. It was part of the spell which had been cast over the sepulchre in which he lay; any noise caused within would be for his ears only. Even so, Drake couldn't help but talk out loud, encouraging whoever was in the edifice to explore deeper. His voice was rough and whispery from centuries of disuse and Drake flinched to hear it; to hear what he had been reduced to.

He strained as hard as he could to hear what was happening above his tomb and, as such, almost missed the moment that his bonds broke. He didn't know what the people above had done to break the spell but suddenly he could move. He lifted a hand from the stone floor, clenching and unclenching it in amazement, then a scent reached his nose, one that he hadn't smelled since the traitors had put him here... _blood_. He couldn't have controlled himself even if he had tried. Between one moment and the next, he had shifted into his other form and his fist had punched through the ceiling of his prison. In a matter of seconds he’d scrambled far up through the earth above to grab hold of the source, drag it back down into the sepulchre and bury his teeth in its neck.

The liquid which ran down his throat wasn't fresh; it was second hand and barely lukewarm which marked the creature in his grip as a vampire. The blood was weak, tainted with something and it lacked the spark of life but did not matter; it was still the best thing that Drake could remember drinking and, once he'd drained the vampire to ash, it gave him the strength to finally leave his tomb. To finally walk outside and let the clean air fill his lungs, clearing out the dust that had been there previously. 

The vampires who had awakened him babbled at him, nonsense that he didn't really understand beyond the knowledge that millennia had passed since his imprisonment. That and the fact that they were unaware that he had actually been imprisoned; they seemed to be labouring under the belief that he'd 'gone to sleep' voluntarily.

Fools.

For a moment Drake had considered killing them all and setting out into the world by himself but he quickly dismissed that idea. From the very strange armour that these vampires wore and their odd manner of speech it seemed that much had changed since his imprisonment and Drake could see that he would need help in understanding it. 

So he had feigned confusion and some weakness after so long a slumber and allowed the young ones to take him back to their homeland and their odd looking stronghold in Esperanto. He had slaked his thirst on the humans who were pushed into his room, barely able to stop himself from completely draining them while in the throes of extreme hunger now that the curse had been lifted from him. He grimaced at their blood; quickly understanding that the taint he had tasted before was a by-product of the world in which they now lived. 

All the while, he pondered on what to do next.

A few deliberately slurred and mumbled questions on the journey had informed him that his betrayer and captor, the Countess Ethelene, had ruled the vampires for a mere handful of decades before she was usurped and killed; beginning a trend of deceit and treachery when it came to the vampire politics. Drake had to struggle to hold back a roar of utter frustration that he would not get to give Ethelene the punishment she richly deserved. 

He continued to question and subtly gather information once he reached the Talos Mansion, using everyone from the sycophantic members of the clan to the even more fawning familiars. From them he learned much about this new world and the history he had missed, most of which caused his anguish to steadily rise until he actually struggled to keep his demon side hidden. It seemed Drake’s most trusted and loyal guard had ‘chosen to sleep’ when Drake had; most likely killed by Ethelene and her followers. The village at the foot of Drake's castle, where his chosen familiars and their families lived, had been burned to the ground and it's inhabitants slaughtered, supposedly on Drake's orders. But the most painful discovery was that Ethelene had used her new position to declare war against the werewolves. That vampires had gone on to win that war and, even after they had beaten back the werewolves, they’d continued to hunt them to near extinction. 

For a few days after learning all of this, Drake had been overcome with grief; snarling at any vampire who dared enter his rooms and usually killing them if they did not leave quickly enough. Eventually though, he came back to himself. There was nothing he could do to change the past, he needed to focus on planning for the future; he had to try and remedy the harm his species had done in his absence, and for that he required some help. 

Firstly, he needed someone he could trust and who would remain loyal to him and him alone. He feared that he would not find such a person among these new vampires; the ones he had met so far were weak and did not deserve to call themselves his progeny. They cried to him about a hunter; a single hunter and for this they had come looking for Drake to save them. They told him of their asinine plans to gain power, to rule the ‘human herd’ and Drake despaired for what his people had become. He let them play their foolish games; it would keep them occupied while he decided what he would do next.

Drake had discovered, by chance, that a handful of vampires that he had sired all those centuries before still survived. While he did not believe that they had anything to do with Ethelene and her betrayal, they had certainly contributed to the status of vampires today and had reaped the rewards of the war with the werewolves. It was that discovery, more than anything, that had made his decision; these vampires were considered 'elders' and great dignitaries among the vampires and Drake could not stand by and allow these avaricious fools be held up as the example of what a vampire should be. No, he was going to take their position from them and be king again. And when Drake regained his rightful place as the ruler of his kind, the so-called 'elders' would certainly be dealt with as harshly as their actions, or inaction, deserved. 

Of course, before he regained his leadership, he needed time to plan. It was easy enough to mentally shield his existence from any vampire strong enough to sense him from outside of this city. It was even easier to convince the Talos clan to keep the fact that he was awake and free again as much of a secret as possible. It took barely any effort on his part to plant an idea in the minds of these pathetic creatures. They were so weak that they did not even realise that Drake was inside their heads and so wrapped in greed that Drake's seeded suggestion of surprising the vampire race with his existence at a date more suited to gaining them the highest accolades was quickly latched onto.

Finding the company of the vampires wanting, Drake instead took to wandering among the humans as he plotted. They were far different to the humans before his long sleep; they were so colourful and the noise of them was deafening. He could sense the fear and greed which suffused the Talos Clan here too but it was overpowered by _life_. These new humans were everywhere, surging, trying to fit as much living into their short time span as they could. It was invigorating and Drake was fascinated.

It was during one of his strolls through the human crowd that he spotted his ancient name in a shop window. He knew from the many books he had devoured since waking that ‘Dracula’ was still known. His history was as twisted and deformed in the human world as it was in the vampire one, but he had been unprepared for the representation of himself in trinkets. It had led him to entering the store to see more and that was where he met the shop girl with mischief sparkling in her eyes. She had teased him, full of spirit, and he had immediately liked her. His instincts told him that this human was deserving; that she could be the trustworthy companion he sought.

Leaning close, Drake whispered into her ear, “If I offered you eternal life, would you take it?”

The girl threw her head back and laughed throatily. “I think you need to work on your pick-up lines, buddy.”

Drake frowned slightly at hearing yet another phrase he did not understand but shook it off. He took hold of her wrist and pulled her against him, allowing some of his true nature to show through his eyes. The annoying boy behind the counter yelled at him but Drake ignored it, concentrating on the girl as her eyes widened and she let out a gasp. 

“I can give you a new life, show you the _true_ meaning of what it is to be a vampire,” he told her, gesturing at the shop items with his free hand. “You could be the first new childe of the Vampire King.”

The boy stopped shouting, instead charging at him, and Drake batted him away as if he was an annoying fly. As the boy crashed through the glass window, Drake spoke to the girl again.

“It must be your choice; stay here or join my new family.”

The girl’s eyes flickered to the still falling glass and back to Drake. She swallowed hard and then slowly began to nod. "I've spent years talking the talk; I'm not going to turn down a chance to walk the walk. Yes."

Quicker than she would be able to comprehend, Drake swung her onto a chair and drank his fill before cutting his wrist, holding it to her mouth and letting his powerful blood drip down her throat. The whole thing took seconds and Drake had already whisked the girl away to safety before anyone came to investigate the broken window and unconscious boy.

Josie, as the shop girl was named, was everything that Drake had hoped she would be. Having been made by his blood, she was superior to the young ones in every way. She was faster, stronger, a daywalker and, once her initial thirst had passed, did not need to feed as often. The bond between new childe and sire was very strong, marking her as a true childer, and Drake knew that she would always remain loyal to him alone. 

Josie had also retained that cheeky sense of humour and often kept Drake amused when she used it against the young ones; frequently pointing out that she was the king’s childe and demanding to be called ‘Princess J’. The other vampire’s despised her, especially the Talos woman who seemed to believe that Drake had made Josie to be his consort when that position should belong to her. In truth, he did not want Josie in his bed, she was to be his right hand not his whore, but he let the Talos’ keep believing it as it stopped the not-so-subtle suggestions that Danica had been making ever since he arrived at her home.

It felt good to have Josie around him and Drake realised how lost and lonely he had actually been since awakening. The two of them made token appearances in the meeting room to listen to the young ones increasingly ridiculous schemes to stop this feared hunter of theirs, but the rest of the time was spent training. If he was to enact his plans and ultimately change the vampires’ place in this new world then he needed to get Josie ready.

One such training session found them sparring at night-time on the rooftops of the city, Drake teaching Josie how to use her full abilities and surroundings in battle. He dodged a kick she had aimed at his head by leaping backwards and landing on the roof of an adjacent building with a smug expression. He watched Josie carefully to anticipate her next move but then tilted his head to one side as he suddenly picked up on a mixture of new scents from nearby. His eyes glowed briefly and he let out an almost inaudible growl before taking off in the direction the scents were emanating from. 

Josie instantly fell in beside him without a word and they only slowed when they arrived at a group of warehouses. Drake jumped onto the roof of the nearest one and silently made his way across the buildings until he was overlooking a clearing between two of the structures. Josie dropped down in to a crouch next to him and they both watched the small battle being waged between a group of vampires and some hunters. 

“That’s Blade.” Josie nodded at the hunter in question, obviously recognising him from the footage that the Talos clan had procured as part of their latest scheme.

Drake nodded but most of his attention was on another one of the fighters, the one whose scent had led Drake here.

“What is he?” Josie asked quietly as she too began to watch the other hunter and Drake allowed himself a small smile at how far she’d come in such a short time; enough to pick up that this particular hunter wasn’t human _and_ to differentiate his scent from that of the hybrid that the young ones had been mewling about.

“He’s a werewolf,” Drake replied. “I had thought...”

He trailed off. Everything he had learned had led him to believe that there were less than a hundred werewolves left in the world and that those who remained alive did so by becoming masters of concealment. He certainly hadn’t expected to find one so brazenly battling vampires in a city considered to be one of the biggest vampire strongholds. And not just any werewolf, the scent he had picked up had told him that this wolf was a direct descendent of his closest ally, Timaeus' clan. As he observed the graceful, powerful movements which marked the man as a predator, Drake was momentarily overcome with memories of watching Aditye sparring with her kin. 

“My lord?” The concern for him was clear in Josie’s tone even without the fact that she had used his formal title and not her preferred ‘Boss’. No doubt she was picking up on the grief he felt as he thought of his beautiful Aditye.

Drake pushed the memories away with practised ease and briefly shook his head at Josie to indicate that he was fine. He turned back to watch the man and, without the past clouding his thoughts, could appreciate his skills; the way he had total command of his body as he moved. He had chosen to use guns and stakes instead of his own claws, something which Drake was sure he did in deference to the humans fighting alongside him. Each attack flowed into the next, perfectly controlled, and the man was obviously completely aware of his surroundings. It was an impressive display and the longer he watched, the more Drake wanted to be the one fighting the wolf, the one testing his limits.

There were only five vampires left, the battle almost over, and Drake was wondering if he and Josie should jump down there for some sparring of their own or save that fight for another day, when the decision was made for him. He saw Blade give the female hunter some sort of signal as he turned another vampire into ash and mere seconds later Drake’s hand shot out to grab the arrow the female had shot in his direction.

Josie snarled and leapt from the roof to land in front of the female but Drake had anticipated her move and landed a split second before her, holding out a hand to stop her from attacking the hunters. 

By this time the hunters had finished off the vampires they’d been fighting. The hybrid jumped in front of the female as if to protect her which, judging from the disgruntled noise she made, wasn’t particularly welcome and Drake raised an eyebrow in amusement. 

“Blade. I have heard much about you.”

Blade had a sword in one hand and a gun pointed at Drake’s heart in the other. “Believe me, vampire; it’s all true.”

Drake opened his mouth to speak again when the werewolf stepped closer. This close, Drake was able to pick up the subtle undertones to his scent that he could not before; including one so enticing to him that he was momentarily stunned. He had only ever felt that strength of attraction to another once before and he had never expected to experience it again. 

“I know there are a lot of stories about you, Blade, but I didn’t think that you being able to kill vamps with just your glare of doom was actually true,” the werewolf said but it was mostly just background noise as Drake stared at him in shock.

He fought to keep his other form hidden but gathered that he was not entirely successful when the wolf suddenly began yelling. “Oh shit, man! It’s him! He’s Dracula!”

At that, the hunters immediately attacked. Both Drake and Josie easily dodged the bullets, arrows and kicks aimed at them as Drake mentally told Josie not to kill these people. It was easy to see that Blade, the wolf and the female hunter were the best fighters in the group as Drake and Josie had taken down the others in less than a minute but these three were still holding their own. Admittedly, Drake and Josie were holding back but Drake could understand why the young ones, the _weaker_ ones, so feared Blade and his companions. 

Drake grabbed hold of the wolf as he swung a fist at him, and spun him around, bringing his other arm up into a choke hold. Considering the revelations he had just had regarding this man and the appreciation he had felt while watching him fight, Drake was not entirely surprised at the want which slammed into him at the feel of the wolf’s body against his own. He _was_ a little surprised at the hint of arousal coming from the wolf, however, and a low, pleased growl rumbled through Drake’s chest, causing the wolf to give a slight shiver. 

Josie had incapacitated the female and was currently sitting on top of her, almost casually, with the woman’s bow levelled at Blade who stood between the two couples with a gun aimed in both directions.

“Shoot him!” the wolf yelled at Blade.

The female hunter shouted back, “No, Hannibal!”

Turning his head to speak directly into _Hannibal’s_ ear, Drake quietly stated. “I have no quarrel with you, wolf.”

Hannibal snorted derisively, even as his body tensed at the use of the word ‘wolf’. “I have a big quarrel with you, Vampire King.”

“You hold me responsible for what the vampires have done to this world. For what they have done to you and your people.” It was not a question; Drake knew it was the truth and he could not blame the wolf for his anger. “This is not the way it should be.”

Blade raised one eyebrow, derisively; joining in with the conversation. “Oh? And how should it be?”

“The old ways have been lost, their meanings distorted,” Drake told him. “We used to have honour. There is a phrase which I recently read; it says that 'Immortality will come to such as are fit for it'; most of these new so-called _vampires_ are not.”

“Excuse me while I wipe away a tear for you,” Blade said sarcastically.

Drake smirked at him. “Our goals are not so different, Blade.”

“Actually, they are.” With that Blade finally pulled the triggers on both guns but Drake and Josie had already jumped away to the nearby rooftops.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	2. Chapter Two - Hannibal

“Motherfucker!” Hannibal yelled as Dex probed the wound on his shoulder.

It was his own fault, really. He'd known, deep down, that Blade wouldn't hesitate to shoot through Hannibal to get Dracula (he liked to believe that at least 80% of that was because Blade knew that he'd heal and not just because Blade didn't like him) so he should have jumped clear as soon as the vampire let go of him. But he'd hesitated and that hesitation had resulted in a goddamn hole in his shoulder. 

Dex hummed thoughtfully as he continued to examine the area around the wound which Abby had _helpfully_ plugged with that elastic protein crap. “Yeah, that looks like it’s going to be painful for a while.”

“You think, Captain Obvious?” Hannibal glared at him but Dex just rolled his eyes and started to dress the wound. Even Hannibal’s increased healing power was going to struggle with being shot by a silver bullet, which was just as welcome to a werewolf as it was to a vampire. He sighed. “I can’t believe I got shot because of _Dracula!_ But, hey, at least he didn’t sit on me.”

“Fuck off!” Abby snapped from the end of the bed. “That bitch was strong. Like, scary strong.”

“They both were.” Hannibal sighed. “I’ve never seen vamps that could move like that. We are so very, very fucked!”

“Maybe not,” Blade suddenly said from the doorway and Hannibal jumped a mile into the air with a curse, still not used to anyone being able to sneak up on him.

“Don’t do that!” Hannibal said through gritted teeth as pain exploded in his shoulder again. “Where did you even come from?”

Blade ignored him. “Drake isn’t a fan of the other vamps, remember? Thinks they’re _unworthy_.”

“You think we can use that?” Abby asked. “Use him to help us and then kill him when he’s got no one left to help _him_?”

“He wouldn’t have lived for as long as he has if he was stupid enough to fall for that,” Hannibal pointed out.

“I think he wants to replace the current vamps with new ones, like that girl. She wasn’t your run of the mill suckhead,” Blade agreed.

Okay, he hadn’t _said_ that he agreed with Hannibal but it wasn’t a contradiction so Hannibal was counting it as a win.

“So, he’s going to get rid of the ones we’re dealing with now and replace them with something worse,” Abby spat. 

“Aaand we’re back to being royally fucked,” Hannibal said.

“Maybe not,” Blade repeated and then left before they could ask him to explain that.

“I really think he’s mellowing,” Hannibal mused then yelped as Abby smacked his head before making her own way out of the room. He glared after her for a moment before shrugging it off and shooting a mock flirtatious look at his 'doctor' instead. “Dex, sweetheart; looks like it’s just you and me. Poker? Ooh, strip poker?”

Dex shook his head. “No can do, man. I’m helping Hedges do a refit to the van. He’s promised me some cool new toys in return.”

“Yeah, alright.” Hannibal tried to sound tired rather than disappointed but didn’t think he’d quite pulled it off judging by the weird look Dex shot him as he left too.

So now it was just Hannibal alone with his thoughts, exactly what he didn’t want because now he had to think about Dracula. Or more precisely, about his own reaction to Dracula. 

Hannibal had been brought up by his godmother and, as much as he loved his Aunt Elizabeth, he’d been forced to acknowledge at a young age that she wasn’t exactly sane. She’d been convinced that she was a witch and that she could see the future. Instead of fairytales, Hannibal had been told bedtime stories of werewolves and vampires, both of which she’d insisted were real, and of the epic war which waged between the two. So yeah, she was crazy but she was his only family and Hannibal loved her nutty self. 

Then he’d shifted during the first full moon after his twenty-fifth birthday and realised that she wasn’t that crazy after all. Werewolves did indeed exist and he was one of them.

Being his first shift, Hannibal had lost more of his humanity than he’d been able to hold onto in subsequent shifts and as such had drawn more attention to himself. Not enough that it would reveal werewolves to the humans but enough to alert a couple of vampires in the area to the presence of one of their most hated enemies. Those vamps had kept their distance while Hannibal was in wolf form, then ordered their familiars to watch him change back the next morning and then follow him home. Except Hannibal hadn’t gone home, he’d gone to Aunt Elizabeth’s to find out what the hell was going on and that was where the vampires descended as soon as night fell once more. 

They’d killed his godmother but not before torturing Hannibal’s address out of her. Hannibal had been so out of it from the exertions of the night before that he couldn’t even swat a fly let alone fight against the group of vampires who suddenly burst into his apartment and dragged him away. 

Some people might think that the fact Danica Talos had decided that she wanted to keep Hannibal as her new pet instead of putting him through the standard werewolf interrogation and execution routine was a stroke of luck. Those people had never spent five long years as the plaything of the most sadistic, mentally unstable, cock-coveting uber-bitches in the history of ever. The only good thing that happened while he was under her control was her demand that the entire Talos clan move to Esperanto, because that was the thing that had led to Hannibal being rescued.

So yeah, he definitely wasn’t a fan of vampires. In fact, he’d be happy to see every damn one of them turned to ash. He’d hated them with every fibre of his being for the past decade so the fact that being manhandled by the big bad daddy of them all had got him hard in 0.2 seconds? That was messing with his head more than a little.

Hannibal stared longingly at the cupboard where he knew the good drugs were kept and mentally cursed the metabolism that would process them too quickly to actually make him sleep. He sighed, punched his pillow with his good arm and turned back to the TV to watch Captain Kirk accidentally seduce a succubus. Maybe that would distract him for more than a minute.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

The next day his shoulder still hadn’t healed from the silver poisoning so Hannibal was benched, much to his irritation...and then to the irritation of everyone forced to deal with him. He tried to get some shit done anyway by pestering his _super secret contact_ in the Talos clan to get more info but, beyond finding out that Dracula went by 'Drake' these days, he didn't get anything that they didn't already know. Which brought him right back around to annoying everyone with his bad temper; especially when night fell and he itched to go out hunting as normal.

Blade had had mysterious, and probably completely humourless, Blade type things to do and had disappeared just before sunset without telling anyone. So Abigail had been out hunting by herself, doing her usual bait and stake with fledglings, which is why she had been alone when Dracula had found her again. Hannibal had never seen Abby looking so freaked out, not even when Whistler the elder had died. After she got back to the Honeycomb Hideout, Sommerfield made Abby sit down and Hannibal had poured her a stiff whiskey, before she described what had happened. 

“It was just a routine job; a gang of new vamps too stupid to spot the danger. When I dusted the last one, I heard clapping and then Drake and that girl appeared, blocking both exits,” she started after taking a long drink of the whiskey. “I fired at him but he just caught it again and then he smiled. He fucking _smiled_! Told me I was a good shot but needed a bit more training to become a great shot and then...” She paused and took another drink. “...then he offered to train me.”

“If you let him turn you first,” Sommerfield guessed but Abby shook her head.

“He said he’d never turn anyone against their will. That it wasn’t the _true way_.”

There was a chorus of snorts at that which kind of amused Hannibal but he stopped himself from making a joke for once.

“And the girl, her name is Josie apparently; she kept talking about how cool my bow is and wanting to know where I got it from like we were two normal girls chatting about clothes shopping,” Abby continued, staring into her now empty glass before Hannibal took it from her and refilled it.

“There you go, Hedges. If this all goes pear shaped, you’ve got a job designing weapons for psychos. Silver lining.” Hannibal slapped Hedges on the shoulder as he returned the glass to Abby.

“How did you get away?” Dex asked, bring them back to the main topic of conversation.

“They let me go.” Abby laughed although there was no humour in the sound. “Both of them against me? They could have killed me as easily as snapping a twig, and I really thought that they were going to, you know. I really thought that was it, I was done; but it turned out that they just wanted to talk to me.”

“About what?” Hannibal wanted to know, unsure what sort of game was going on here.

She shrugged. “Pretty much the same thing as he said before. He’s not happy with the way the vamps are running things, they have no honour and he’d like to help us in our crusade.”

“He wants to help us?” Dex was incredulous. “He actually said that?”

“Yeah.” Abby nodded. “Told me to think about it and give him a call.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a plain white business card with a single number printed across it. Hedges took it from her and immediately started to run various traces on the number.

“I don’t know what’s more disturbing, that Daddy Vampire wants to help us wipe out his kids or that a man _older than the dinosaurs_ gave you his business card,” Hannibal said. “Seriously, what the fuck is going on?”

No one had an answer for that. There wasn’t even a cryptic one from Blade when he returned and was updated on what had happened.

A couple of nights after that, Dex almost got taken down when the vampire he’d been tracking turned out to be six. Before they could sink their fangs into him, however, a girl had swooped in and dusted them all. She then gave Dex a wink and a kiss on the cheek before disappearing again. 

“Josie,” Hannibal and Abby said simultaneously when Dex described the girl to them.

A week later it was Hannibal’s turn. He’d pretty much been expecting it but it was still jarring when Drake silently appeared next to him as he prepared to sneak into an underground tunnel network that may or may not be home to a nest of vampires. 

"Umm...hi?" Hannibal stopped his stealthy sneaking towards the tunnel entrance and looked at Drake who seemed to have shown up in some kind of medieval armour; he looked like an unusually buff role player.

Drake nodded at him. “You are walking into a battle where you will be outnumbered. I believed that you might appreciate my assistance.”

"How do you...?" Hannibal broke off and rolled his eyes at himself. Of course the king of all vampires would know that there was indeed a nest in the tunnels and exactly how many vamps lived there; he'd be able to sense them from the other side of the city if he wanted to. 

As Hannibal considered the tunnel entrance again, Drake stepped closer and Hannibal was unable to stop himself from tensing. A vampire and a werewolf being this close to each other and not locked in a fight to the death was just plain weird. Their species had been at war for thousands of years, something which had been thoroughly drilled into Hannibal during his duration at the Talos’ residences. It hadn’t been unusual for a random vamp to suddenly claim that their great-great grandsire had been slaughtered by a werewolf because they knew that Danica would let them punish Hannibal for that crime in whatever way they wished – so long as it entertained her, of course.

There was also that other problem he apparently had when in close proximity to Drake but Hannibal was trying to not think about that right now. Instead he wrapped himself in his usual snarky persona and attempted to get rid of the vampire as quick as he could.

"I appreciate the offer," he drawled with a fake sugary smile. "But I'm going to have to decline. I've been tracking this nest for weeks and this fight's mine so thanks but no thanks. Stalk me another time. Or not. Preferably not."

“Stalking? You believe that you are my prey?” Drake asked with an amused expression and Hannibal rolled his eyes. 

"Not that kind of stalk...you know what? Never mind. We can do 'Modern Speak for Ancient Beings' another time," Hannibal said. "Another time...that's not this time...because you're leaving now. Bye bye."

Probably not the best idea to try order the Vampire King around but Hannibal had long ago accepted that he had no actual control over what came out of his mouth sometimes.

Instead of getting angry, Drake just grinned. "You are not afraid of me, wolf. This pleases me."

"Awesome. Because I live to please bloodsuckers." Hannibal snorted before frowning slightly at Drake. "You do understand that we're mortal enemies, right?"

Something passed across Drake's face, too quickly for Hannibal to figure out what it was. "So I have come to understand. That is one of the things I intend to change."

Hannibal blinked at him and then gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, of course. Now that there are all of _dozens_ of us left, _now_ you vamps say you want to be friends. You couldn't have finished your nap a little earlier? Woken up in time to stop your kids from turning us into an endangered fucking species?"

That dark expression flashed over Drake's face again and if Hannibal didn't know better he'd say that it was pain.

"No," Drake answered through gritted teeth then pulled a large sword from the sheath on his back and began to walk towards the grating. "Enough talking."

With a frown, Hannibal watched him and swallowed the weird urge to apologise. He also considered just leaving; he wasn't in the mood for any of this shit. But that was too childish and besides, he’d put in time and effort over this particular nest and he wasn’t going to let all that go to waste. So he sighed and rushed to catch up.

“You said that you were offering assistance,” Hannibal commented quietly as he followed Drake into the tunnel. “As I said before, this is _my_ fight, alright? So just assist.”

Drake shot him a cool look and didn’t reply, just growled and tightened his grip on his sword as his answer. Hannibal resisted another sigh; he was pretty sure Drake could squash him like a bug and although Drake was apparently ‘pleased’ that Hannibal wasn’t scared of him, he probably shouldn’t push it too far. It was a shame though; he’d been so gratified when he’d figured out where the nest was living. He thought that it would give him the chance to have a good fight, to let his fur out and get rid of his recent frustrations. Except now the source of most of those frustrations had decided to join him and, from the looks of it, was going to kill half of these vamps before Hannibal could even start to slice and dice.

As Hannibal expected, Drake began swinging the moment they entered the dimly lit maintenance area where the vamps had holed up. There was already ash falling to the ground when Hannibal followed Drake into the room so he wasted no more time before leaping into the fray. He had a new gun from Hedges to test as well as a mini UV dagger or, as Hannibal liked to call it, The Baby Lightsaber™. It wasn't quite as good as Abby's UV Arc but it did cut through vamp limbs easily and, with a little bit of effort, he also managed to decapitate one of them. He could also make the appropriate lightsaber noises with the dagger which Abby couldn't do with her wonder weapon. He was going to give it four stars when he reported back to Hedges, but only because he knew that withholding the last star would push the geek that extra step into building a full sized sabre.

Hannibal was constantly aware of Drake fighting on the other side of the room, unwilling to trust that the vamp wouldn't suddenly switch sides again and attack Hannibal. But he wasn't actually looking in his direction so the sudden guttural and deafening growl took him by surprise. He quickly turned his head to look then stumbled back in shock at the sight of a giant devil-looking red scaly creature standing where Drake had previously been.

"What the fuck?" he yelled, pointing a finger at the _thing_.

"Man, that is so fucked up," agreed the vamp Hannibal had been fighting and who had also come to a halt when the growl echoed through the room. "We should team up and kill it before it kills us!"

Hannibal gave him an incredulous look but his eyes were drawn inexorably back to Scaly monster!Drake when he reached out a huge hand, grabbed hold of the nearest vampire and pulled its head off his shoulders as easily as plucking a grape off a stem.

"Whoa!" Hannibal took another step back and was unable to prevent his claws from pushing their way out of his fingertips at the sight of this new threat. 

The vamp he'd been fighting swore loudly and tried to run past Hannibal to the exit behind him. Still on the defence and very much on edge, the knock to Hannibal’s shoulder from the fleeing vamp caused him to lash out on autopilot and with the full strength of his abilities. As Hannibal ripped the vampire’s throat out with one slash of his claws, Drake made another loud noise. It took Hannibal a moment to realize that it was laughter.

"There is the wolf I wished to see," Drake said. 

Hannibal didn't relax from his defensive stance. "And there's the...actually I don't know what the fuck you are. I mean, we knew that shape-shifting was a definite thing with you but this..."

Hannibal's words came out slightly slurred due to the lengthening of his canines and he knew that his eyes were probably glowing as well. If Drake was pleased by that too, well, Hannibal only had his word for it because there was no way to tell if that messed up mouth was smiling.

"I am part demon," Drake informed him as he casually popped the head off another vampire. "The result of a pact made by my parents before I was born so as to keep the full demons in their realm and away from this one."

The remaining vamps had nowhere to run, Hannibal and Drake were each standing in front of the only two exits so they were trapped between a demon and a pissed looking werewolf with really great weapons. Drake killed another vampire by punching a hand straight through its chest which apparently made up the minds of the three remaining vamps over which enemy they were going to try and go through in order to get outside and to relative safety. 

They all rushed Hannibal at once, probably hoping to get him off balance, but he immediately shot one in the heart while at the same time spinning out the path of another, raking the claws of his free hand across her rib cage as he went, deep enough to scrape bone. That vampire fell to the ground screaming in agony before Hannibal turned his gun on her. The third vampire was dangling a couple of feet off the ground, his throat held tight in Drake's grip while his hands uselessly clawed at him, trying to get free.

"Would you like the honour?" Drake asked Hannibal. “You did claim that this was your fight.”

Hannibal stared at the monster in front of him and slowly shook his head. “Nah, I’m good. Knock yourself out.”

Even under the circumstances, the fact that Drake's expression still managed to look confused at the modern words in this guise sent a flicker of amusement through Hannibal. That amusement skedaddled pretty quickly when Drake’s weird ass mouth gaped open and latched itself onto the last remaining vampire's neck.

"Oh Jesus! That is so gross!" Hannibal exclaimed before he could stop himself.

Luckily Drake either didn't hear him or, more likely, ignored him as he drank until the vampire disintegrated in his hands. He lifted his head and stared straight at Hannibal, those swirling golden eyes piercing as if he could see right into the werewolf. Hannibal was suddenly very much aware that he was alone with a demon who he'd suspected could kill him with his little finger when he was in _human_ form. In this form he was certain of it. 

"Soooo...you can feed on your own kind," Hannibal needlessly pointed out, unable to take the silent staring any longer.

"These insects are not 'my kind'," Drake replied, taking a step towards Hannibal. "But yes, I am able to feed on vampires; both these and the true vampires of my day."

"The ones like Josie," Hannibal guessed, wanting to step back but that stubborn wolf part of him had raised his head again and was refusing to let him show fear in such a way. "She's one of these _true_ vampires, right? Stronger because she was turned by you; by the actual source of vampirism and not by some watered down version."

The demon made a pleased sound at Hannibal's deduction and then he began to shift back to his human form. It was a frankly painful looking process which had Hannibal wincing in sympathy because his full moon shifts weren't exactly a walk in the park but this looked even worse. 

"Josie is my childe, yes. She is superior to any vampire outside of an elder but I have been informed that they are lessened in number thanks to a vampire called Frost and your friend, Blade," Drake told him once the shift was complete and he was standing there in just his pants; something which Hannibal was trying very hard to ignore.

He snorted instead. "Blade? My friend? The dude hates me; he'd probably try and stake you for saying that, even if you were human."

Drake tilted his head. "Then he is a fool for not attempting to befriend an ally as strong as he is."

"Is that what you're trying to do?" Hannibal asked. " _Befriend_ the Nightstalkers?"

"Nightstalkers? This is what you call yourselves?" Drake chuckled. 

Hannibal narrowed his eyes and pointed at Drake. "I'll have you know that it's an awesome name. Danica and her sycophantic cronies only wish they could have come up with a name that cool." 

He knew it drove her crazy that she'd never thought of a snappy nickname for her clan, something they could use outside of all the formal stuff in order to make themselves sound hip. He gave a quick smirk at the memory of her jealous expression before she'd covered it up with insults and, you know, trying to kill him and his new friends again.

Drake took another step closer. "You use the given name of the Talos' sister. You have met her?"

That pulled Hannibal up short. Drake didn't know that he used to be owned by Danica? She must be trying to keep it quiet. He could see that having a werewolf in her control and letting it escape instead of killing it probably wouldn't cast her in a good light in the eyes of the elders but he was surprised that no one else had mentioned it to their King in order to get Danica in trouble. There was no loyalty between vampires.

Well, if the vamps weren't up to it for whatever reason, Hannibal had nothing holding him back. He could stand to see her get a little of her own medicine. Or a lot. In fact, he'd be happy as a pig in shit if she just drowned in it. 

"Oh, me and Danica go way back. You should ask her about it. Better yet, ask Ruiz," he said, naming the vamp who most coveted Danica's position as clan leader and was therefore most likely to spill the story if he thought that it would help his standing.

Drake narrowed his eyes. "Again, you use the name of a Talos member with such familiarity."

Hannibal gave him a grin filled with bitterness. "Yeah, you could say that I'm pretty _familiar_ with most of those fuckheads." He took a moment to push away the memories then carried on. "Speaking of 'familiar', was it you who killed Vance?"

He was actually surprised that it had taken Blade as long as it had to track down the psychiatrist who had drugged and taunted him the night Hannibal and Abby'd saved his ass from the cops and the Talos'. Although, now that Hannibal thought about it, he'd probably been saving the fame hungry familiar for a time when he could _really_ enjoy killing him, which would explain the foul mood Blade was in when he returned from Vance's office with the news that the man was already dead. Not just dead; drained by a vampire. Blade was still stomping about the hideout; growling instead of using his words and pulling his weapons on anyone who dared approach him (besides Zoe, of course; no one said a harsh word to Zoe, not even Blade). Hannibal was almost beginning to miss the old Blade who just glared a lot and insulted their skills...good times. 

"The one called Vance brought dishonour to the role of the familiar as so many of them do in this modern world," Drake spat. "It was once a noble position within a clan; the familiars spoke for the humans, kept the peace between our sides. They did not degrade themselves for the chance to become one of us."

Hannibal blinked at him. "I'm just going to take that as a yes."

"I let Josie kill him. It was a reward for her and a warning for others," Drake told him, still looking disgruntled at the thought of today's familiars.

"I'm probably going to regret asking but...why the reward and what was the warning?" Hannibal asked.

He wasn't quite sure what he was still doing there, if he was honest. Any sane person would've scarpered the moment the last vamp had been killed and they found themselves standing alone in a room with a demon. They definitely wouldn't have stayed for a friendly chat. But then Hannibal guessed that no one could really call him sane these days and this type of info could come in useful.

Drake smirked. "The reward was for her loyalty and for pleasing me," he said, clearly not going to expand on that, and Hannibal felt a jolt of unwanted jealousy at what the words implied. 

Yet again, he had to remind himself that Drake was a vampire; king of the vampires, and Hannibal hated vampires. All of them. Even the ripped, half naked ones. He didn't care if they fucked their hot, goth babe sidekick. 

Not at all.

Jesus, Hannibal really needed to get laid. With someone normal. He idly wondered if Abby was up for a romp later...or maybe Dex.

"The warning was that change is coming," Drake continued.

"Are you sure that they're going to understand?" Hannibal asked. "There are just so many interpretations for a dead body drained of all their blood. You'd have been better off sending some flowers and writing your warning on the card. Clear, precise and everyone knows where they stand. Also, it'll make the room smell nice which is a bonus."

Again, Drake seemed amused by Hannibal’s rambling talk which was unusual; normally he got smacked upside the head or told to shut up. 

"It appeared to me that there were not many vampires in this city who would dare kill the familiar of one of the clan leaders. I was correct; they recognise that it is a message. They may not know exactly what it means yet but it is a start."

Hannibal rolled his eyes; seriously, vampires and all their cryptic crap. Why couldn't they just tell each other what was going on? "A start to this big overhaul where vampires and werewolves are suddenly bffs, and you guys aren't evil anymore and we all shit rainbows and sing 'kumbaya'?"

"You doubt me?" Drake asked, apparently picking up on the tone because there was no way that he understood the words.

"I don't trust you," Hannibal corrected. 

Drake inclined his head. "Probably wise, considering what my people did to yours in my name." He sneered over the last three words, his tone disgusted, but there was also a sense of regret running through it. "Perhaps my actions will talk louder than my words do."

Hannibal manfully resisted the urge to correct the saying and then stumbled back in shock when Drake suddenly moved, quicker than Hannibal could track, and appeared right in front of him. Close enough that they could share body heat. Instantly, Hannibal began to growl and his claws grew once more. Drake ignored that and reached out to run a finger down Hannibal’s cheek, seemingly unconcerned when Hannibal snapped his teeth at him.

“Despite what Ethelene told everyone and what was written into vampire lore, I never hated werewolves,” Drake told him, fixing Hannibal with that intense stare again. “They were our allies and they were _my friends_. I would never have declared war on them just as they would not have attacked me. The lore is false.”

Hannibal had no idea what was going on; why Drake was telling him this stuff, if any of it was true? Why he was touching Hannibal like that? Why that touch was setting off delicious shivers beneath his skin... He pulled away with a snarl only for Drake to grab him and slam him against the wall he'd somehow managed to back Hannibal towards without him realising.

"Let me go!" Hannibal struggled against the grip Drake had on him, pinning his wrists to the wall.

Drake hummed, studying Hannibal for a moment, and then leaned in to murmur into Hannibal's ear. "I don't think that you really want me to, wolf."

With that he crushed their mouths together and Hannibal froze, unable to quite believe what was happening. There was a not-quite-hard-enough-to-draw-blood nip to his bottom lip followed by a soothing sweep of tongue and Hannibal groaned. He knew he should try and put a stop to it but he found himself surging forward into the kiss and fighting Drake for dominance of it. Drake gave a rumble of approval deep in his chest before he let go of Hannibal's wrists to wrap his arms around him and pull him closer. 

Hannibal wasn't sure how long he lost himself in the kiss but eventually he had to pull back for air. Drake smirked wickedly at him as he pressed Hannibal further into the wall, making sure that Hannibal could feel just how turned on he was and causing Hannibal to throw his head back with a low growl. That was when Drake buried his head in Hannibal's neck and Hannibal instantly tensed all over as the realisation of exactly who he was making out with and why he shouldn't let that person anywhere near his throat crashed over him.

Drake lifted his head with a frown as Hannibal began to struggle against him then his face cleared with realisation. "I would have thought you would realise that hurting you was the furthest thing from my mind."

"It was a good kiss but no kiss is good enough to wipe away knowledge of the vamps favourite form of execution when it comes to my kind," Hannibal replied even as he stopped the struggling he'd gone into on autopilot. 

Drake studied him carefully and then nodded before letting go of Hannibal.

He ran a finger along Hannibal's jaw again in an echo of his earlier caress. "I think that I shall take that as a challenge, my wolf. But I believe that will save for another day. I will say goodbye for now, Hannibal King; we will meet again soon."

Then he was gone and Hannibal was left alone in the room. He ran a slightly shaking hand through his hair and took some steadying breaths. What the fuck was going on? Whatever it was, he was definitely going to be keeping some of the details of this hunt to himself.

It was only when he bent to pick up the weapons he'd dropped sometime during the madness that one aspect of what Drake had said finally sunk in. 

"I'm not _your_ wolf!" he said aloud to the room then spent the journey back to base trying to convince himself that he hadn't heard a faint chuckle in reply.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	3. Chapter Three - Drake

Once he had watched Hannibal enter the boat he lived on and was sure that the wolf was not going to head out on another hunt that night, Drake made his way back to the mansion. He took a longer and more scenic route than usual to give himself time to examine everything that had happened since he joined Hannibal outside the tunnel entrance. It really had not gone as expected. 

The plan had been to talk to Hannibal, fight alongside him and begin to convince him that Drake had no wish to hurt him or his fellow hunters. But the man had been on his mind since the day at the warehouses and getting to see the wolf fight, to truly see him let the animal out to play, had fanned the little flame Hannibal had lit inside him during that first meeting. Then Hannibal had refused to back down or run away even in the face of Drake's demon form, something that had pleased both demon and man. 

But it was that scent, the one that had so enticed Drake that day at the warehouses, and the way it filled the enclosed space that had caused Drake to deviate from his plan. That scent which made Drake want to taste just to see if it was as good...and it was. Good enough for him to lose himself in the senses and sensations of that kiss to the point that he ended up doing exactly what he had not wanted to do; to make Hannibal fear him, if only for a split second.

The strength of Drake's reaction to Hannibal still surprised him. He had begun to believe that initial enticement had been mostly due to finding another headstrong wolf and his discovery of Hannibal's connection to Aditye's clan. That perhaps he had somehow substituted Aditye in his loneliness. But he couldn't fool himself that he'd been thinking of Aditye while he had Hannibal in his arms. Hannibal was unmistakeably male, hard where Aditye had been soft and yielding, and Drake had taken great pleasure in that. No, Hannibal was not a replacement for Drake's long lost love but something else entirely. Something he already claimed as his own even if the wolf did not yet agree.

“You’re looking pleased with yourself, Boss,” Josie told Drake when he finally returned to the Talos mansion and entered their shared suite. “Things went well, I take it.”

“They did,” Drake confirmed, smiling a little as he remembered the way Hannibal had pushed back into their kiss, giving as good as he got. 

She gave him a considering look as she nodded. “And what was the reason that you had to go alone, again?”

Drake kept his amusement from his face. She was a shrewd one, his new childe; she knew that there was more to it, she just hadn’t figured out what. 

“Because the goal is for them to begin to trust me. That will not happen if they only see me accompanied by another; it will be perceived as my having a guard.”

Josie nodded again. “So nothing to do with the werewolf then? Giving him the special treatment because you think the other hunters will fall into line once you get him?”

“I very much doubt that it would be as easy as that,” Drake said as he took a seat across from her in their opulent living area. “They may have let him join their cause because of a shared hatred of our kind however Hannibal is still a werewolf. With the exception of his _Nightstalkers_ , I would be surprised if the human hunters truly trust him.”

Drake and Josie had quickly worked out that the hunters had split themselves into smaller groups, spread out across the city and probably beyond; a clever move if they ever happened to be followed back to their home base by an enemy. Hannibal, Blade and the female called Abby, worked together as part of one group and the other hunters they’d met that first day were part of another 'cell', as they called themselves. Drake had decided to concentrate his efforts on Hannibal’s group and not just because of the werewolf himself, although that was obviously a factor. No, all three of them had proven themselves worthy of becoming his allies when they’d first met, far more than the other group had. They also had superior weapons and the fact that there were already two non-humans within their group led Drake to believe that they would be more amenable to working with himself and Josie than the other human hunters would.

“You’re probably right,” Josie agreed before she suddenly flashed Drake a lascivious smile and waggled her eyebrows. “It’s a shame though, I wouldn’t have minded giving the wolf some _special treatment_. He's not really my normal type but even so, those biceps are just begging to be lick...”

The growl was out before Drake could even think to control it and Josie's eyes widened in shock. She automatically put her hands out in a non-threatening gesture, then held completely still. She didn’t flinch or move back from him despite the faint scent of fear Drake was picking up from her. Instead she waited until Drake’s shoulders relaxed before allowing herself to do the same. A sense of pride welled up in him at her actions and he once more congratulated himself for choosing her; her instincts were so good that he was honestly surprised no one else had turned her first, especially considering what her human occupation had been.

“Well, I guess that’s my answer,” she stated in a careful voice and when Drake smirked in response she relaxed entirely and pointed at him. “You’ve got the hots for the werewolf hottie. You went alone today so that you could ogle him without me, admit it.”

Drake gave her a long suffering look. “I will not admit to that which I do not understand, Josie. We have had this discussion before.”

“During which I pointed out that you need me to use these modern words so that you can get used to them and not need a translator every time you leave this house,” Josie retorted, back to her normal self now that the tense moment had passed. “But, basically, I said that you would like to fuck the wolf.”

“Obviously,” Drake agreed, dryly. 

Josie laughed delightedly at that unneeded confirmation. “And apparently you can get as jealous as the rest of us.”

“He’s mine. Do you understand, Josie? No one is permitted to get close to him except me.” It wasn’t a warning; he knew that Josie would not have touched Hannibal now that she had discovered that Drake wanted him; it was instructions to make sure no one else did.

She nodded her understanding but gave a small frown. “I might have to get a little creative about that. If I put the word out that the other vamps are to stay away from him then they’re definitely going to check him out just to see who it is that the king desires. If that happens then they’re going to see that he’s a werewolf and we could just be putting him in more danger.”

“Firstly, I do not believe that any of this clan has the spine to attack someone who belongs to me; werewolf or no,” Drake informed her. “Secondly, it appears that they already know about Hannibal and what he is.”

“Seriously? How is he still alive?” Josie asked incredulously. “I mean, I know that he’s not exactly hiding but I figured that he was getting away with it because he killed every vampire who got close enough to scent him. If they all know, surely they would have executed him by now.”

Drake agreed. He and Josie had both studied the laws set into place concerning werewolves, with no small amount of distaste, and it had been clearly written that any vampire with knowledge of a werewolf was duty bound to kill that werewolf on sight; it was a puzzle as to why the Talos’ had let Hannibal live. A puzzle which he wanted to solve.

“Fetch the one called 'Ruiz'," Drake ordered Josie. "My wolf said that he would have the answers."

While Josie left to do as ordered, Drake took the time to have a shower and wash away the ash from the vampire nest. When he emerged, freshly dressed, Josie and Ruiz were waiting for him in the living area. Ruiz looked beyond excited to be requested for an audience with Drake while Josie continually rolled her eyes behind the magazine she was pretending to read.

“My Lord Drake.” Ruiz leapt to his feet and bowed deeply to Drake. “What is it that I can help you with?”

At the emphasis put on ‘I’ and ‘help’ Drake had to resist the urge to do some eye rolling of his own. Instead he took a seat and waited until Ruiz did the same. 

“Tell me about Hannibal King.”

Ruiz instantly tensed and he glanced towards the door for a moment.

“They won’t hear you,” Josie assured him, putting the magazine down and giving Ruiz a very toothy grin. “We've made sure the suite is completely sound-proof; it's hard to know who to trust in this place.”

Looking between Josie and Drake, Ruiz raised an eyebrow; telegraphing exactly why he thought they had really soundproofed the suite. Josie, ever amused by the assumptions the other vampires had made about their relationship, sent Drake an exaggerated sultry look and he had to stop himself from chuckling at her antics. Instead he affected an impatient air and stared pointedly at Ruiz.

Satisfied that he would not be overheard, Ruiz leaned forward. “I'm assuming that you're asking because you've discovered what he is and now want to know why he's still alive. Well, that's Danica's fault. The mongrel actually used to live here, can you believe it? He was Danica’s... _pet_ , shall we say.”

“Her pet,” Drake repeatedly flatly so as not to betray the sparks of anger within him.

Ruiz nodded eagerly. “We found him not long after his first change; it was so easy to restrain him that I don’t think he even knew what was happening to him, let alone how to control it. As soon as Danica saw this wild and dangerous beast completely under our control, she just had to keep him; stamped her feet, whined and screamed until she got her own way. I actually think that was the beginning of the end for her sire; once Demetri gave in and let her keep a _werewolf_ , he showed a weakness that she knew she could exploit to get rid of him and rule the clan herself.”

Josie wasn’t as experienced at hiding her emotions as Drake was and her eyes flashed with temper as she asked, “What exactly did being Danica’s _pet_ entail?”

Too absorbed in his gossiping to notice Josie’s anger, Ruiz chuckled. “What didn’t it entail? She’d force him to shift and parade him around on a leash...hell, she’d do that even if he hadn’t shifted. She put drugs in his food, you know? To keep him docile. But they never could find a way to make him stop talking. It used to drive her crazy, the way he kept answering back, so she’d have him muzzled more often than not until she could put that pretty, pretty mouth of his to better use, if you know what I mean.”

There was a sudden loud crack as the armrest of Drake’s chair broke under his grip. Ruiz jumped at the noise, took one look at Drake’s face, misinterpreted the reason for the fury he saw there and immediately began backpedalling. 

“I meant that from a purely aesthetic standpoint, of course. _I_ would never lower myself to actually go near the mongrel. It was disgusting to watch the way she indulged in such intimacies with a creature so far below us.”

Even if Drake didn’t have heightened senses he would know that Ruiz was lying; the vampire was very bad at it. Clearly, it had not been just Danica who had had _intimacies_ with Hannibal. Throw in Hannibal’s earlier joke about being ‘familiar’ with most of the Talos’ and Drake was beginning to get a full picture of what Hannibal had endured while captured. It was only by an intense force of will that Drake pulled himself back from burning down the building with the entire clan locked inside; he needed them for now but he swore to himself that he would get vengeance for Hannibal once that was concluded.

After exchanging a look with Drake which showed him that she was almost as furious as he was, Josie continued to question Ruiz. “So what happened? Why is he running around the city now?”

“Danica let him escape,” Ruiz answered quickly. “A group of hunters were able to infiltrate the mansion while we slept and took him away. The next thing we knew, he was working _with_ those hunters and killing as many of us as he could find. Danica’s been trying to take him down ever since but she can’t make too much noise otherwise she risks one of the elders finding out that she had a werewolf in her clutches for five years and didn’t kill him. But I guess the cat is out of the bag now.” 

He smirked at Drake, obviously satisfied that he’d just successfully signed Danica’s death warrant.

Drake nodded at Josie and she swiftly produced her sword from beneath the sofa and plunged it into Ruiz’ chest before he even realised that she had moved. Josie had deliberately made sure that she missed the heart and Ruiz’s face was a picture of surprise for a moment before the pain finally seeped through; then he began screaming while Josie carefully pulled on a pair of gloves.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

A week later and Drake was still enjoying the blessed quiet which was a result of Danica’s sulking. Of course, they had first had to put up with the screeching which had began almost immediately after Josie had left their suite brushing Ruiz from her clothing. It did not seem to matter that Danica and Ruiz hated each other, only that Drake had taken away one of her minions. She quickly learned that yelling at Drake wasn’t a good idea and Josie just laughed when she tried berating _her_ so sulking had been her only option.

Drake and Josie had continued shadowing the hunters and dropping down to help out during their hunts. Hannibal always tensed up when he sensed Drake’s presence and kept shooting him confused and frustrated looks when he thought that no one was watching. Drake's fingers itched to reach out to him; wanting to cover the wolf with his own body and scent, wanting to convince him with passion filled kisses and touches that Hannibal was truly his and no one would be permitted to harm him again. But Hannibal hadn’t been out on a hunt alone since the day Drake had kissed him, something which Drake guessed he was doing on purpose. He would allow the wolf his space; it wouldn’t do to keep pushing, that was bound to make the already distrustful man run from him. The question was how long could Drake wait? 

That particular night had been unexciting and, after a few fruitless patrols, the hunters headed back home early. Drake watched as Hannibal looked back over his shoulder, unerringly finding Drake crouched on a nearby rooftop despite the vampires not revealing themselves, before turning away again and leaving with the others. This was something which Josie kept pointing out as they made their way back to the mansion; she believed that Drake should be actively 'wooing' Hannibal and had come up with a very detailed plan in which Drake continued to show his interest without pushing the other man too soon. It had involved charts and so many other modern things that Drake hadn't understood that he had lost his temper and destroyed Josie's lap computer. He had made a familiar purchase a new one the next day but had refused to talk of the plan since.

As nice and peaceful as the previous nights had been at the mansion, it was a different form of quiet that met them when they arrived back this night; one that spoke of absence rather than sullenness. Apart from a couple of familiars and a handful of the weaker vampires, the mansion appeared to be empty.

“You.” Drake pointed at one of the remaining vampires who was sitting on her own in front of the giant television. “Where has everyone gone?”

The vampire almost fell over herself in her rush to stand up. “They’ve gone to capture Blade, sir...umm, My Lord...sir.”

Drake narrowed his eyes. He had not been told of any such plan; as far as he was aware, Danica and the others were still licking their wounds and regrouping after their last scheme failed. 

“Sophie, one of the familiars, managed to follow Blade and some woman to a boat,” the vampire continued. “It looks like that’s where the hunters have been hiding out so Danica and Asher ordered everyone to go there and get Blade before they move and we lose them again. I couldn't go because I'm...”

Drake and Josie didn't stay to hear the vampire's excuse, they just ran out of the building and towards the hunters’ hideout. 

“We only left them fifteen minutes ago,” Josie said as they hurried along the rooftops. “They can’t have got have into that much trouble yet.”

Drake shot her a look to tell her how much he disagreed with that statement. These hunters had an uncanny knack of getting in over their heads.


	4. Chapter Four - Hannibal

Hannibal was a mess of conflicting emotions and it was all Drake's fault. The vampire was haunting him; when he wasn't showing up at the Nightstalkers hunts, he was circling in Hannibal's mind on a never ending loop. He'd never had as strong a reaction to anyone as he had with Drake and all they'd done was make out a little. But they shouldn't have. They very definitely shouldn't have done that, no matter how great it had felt. They were enemies; mortal enemies and this wasn't Romeo and fucking Juliet. 

"You're growling again," Abby informed him as they climbed down a level to stow the weapons. "What the hell are you thinking about?"

"That Romeo's a pussy," he replied. 

Well, she'd asked.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You're thinking about Shakespeare?"

"No." Hannibal gave an exaggerated snort. "Romeo, one of the bouncers at 'Noir'. You know, that new club on 5th? Dude was supposed to hook me up with freebie tickets for this weekend but he's gone incommunicado."

"Ah, right." Abby nodded with a chuckle. "That’s a pity, I could do with a night off to go clubbing."

Hannibal winced inwardly and began to hope that he didn't end up having to pay off some random bouncer to answer to the name Romeo just because he was being a smartass again. In his experience, bouncers tended to take that sort of opportunity to indulge in a little extortion.

He plastered a smirk on his face. "Who says I'd take you with me?"

Abby grinned then spun around and moved until her back was pressed to Hannibal's chest, then she started to circle her hips. "You telling me that you'd turn this down?"

"Hey, guys, can I ask about the new..." Hedges started as he walked around a corner towards them. 

Then he took in what Abby was doing, stopped, flushed red and scurried back the way he came.

Abby laughed and pulled away again. "I think I just mentally scarred him."

"Nah, that would only happen if it was Blade grinding on someone," Hannibal told her. "You doing it just expanded his spank bank...mine too."

She made a face and punched him in the arm before continuing on the way to the armoury. Hannibal's cell buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out then froze as he read the coded message that could only have come from Asher.

"Abs, we need to get back upstairs now!" Hannibal yelled, already beginning to run down the corridor. "We've got incoming."

To her credit, Abby didn't question where the info had come from, she just chased after Hannibal. "How the hell did they find us?"

"I don't know," Hannibal replied, but his mind was going over just how many times he'd been aware of Drake following them back to base since that day in the tunnels. 

He hadn't mentioned it to the others partly because he was pretty sure Blade had been aware of it too and he obviously hadn't deemed it important enough to share. But mainly it was because he'd actually believed that Drake wouldn't attack them or if he did, he wouldn't stoop low enough to attack them while their guard was down. He'd fallen for Drake's claims of _honour_ and had maybe even started to believe that Drake wanted to work with them, not fight them, but now it was coming back to kick him in the crotch. Just like he'd known it would, deep down.

He didn't have time to dwell on it though, he had to raise the alarm with the rest of the Nightstalkers and get an SOS sent out to the rest of the cells in the city.

He'd just managed to get Sommerfield and Zoe hunkered down safely in a lower deck storage room when the Talos clan came aknocking at the door, except with less knocking and more terrifying crazy. Hannibal threw himself into the fray, literally, by jumping onto Jarko's back. But there was a reason that Jarko was Danica's personal bodyguard; he was a big fucker and ridiculously strong. By the time Josie burst into the room, Jarko had managed to pin him beneath his giant troll boot and was actively trying to grind Hannibal's bones to make his bread. She threw Jarko head first into the wall before offering Hannibal her hand which he just stared at in confusion. 

It was at that point that he realised the rest of the fighting had stopped and all the vampires were busy dropping to their knees before a very pissed looking Drake.

“Explain yourselves,” he ordered with his voice barely more than a growl.

“They started it!” Hannibal protested as he climbed to his feet, before realising that the order hadn’t been meant for him. “You weren’t talking to me, were you? Yeah okay, shutting up now.”

Drake’s eyes flickered to his and Hannibal could see a hint of humour in them before they hardened and returned to the kneeling vampires.

“My King,” Danica said, refusing to look at Drake directly, much to Hannibal’s entertainment. “This is the hideout of Blade, the hunter we told you of. These others work with…”

“I know who Blade is,” Drake cut her off. “We have spoken on several occasions.”

Every vampire looked at Blade in shock and the hybrid gave them all a very toothy grin and shot them the bird, which caused more than a few of them to hiss in anger as the hunters smirked.

While everyone's attention was on Blade, Hannibal caught Asher's eye and gave him a subtle nod of thanks. The vampire sneered at him but Hannibal had known him a long time and could see the faint smile beneath the act.

“I want it known that no vampire is to harm a single member of this group,” Drake told the vampires who all immediately burst into protest.

“My King…”

“He hunts us…”

“They deserve to…”

“Blade must be…”

“Look at them. Pathetic, right?” Josie murmured in Hannibal's ear.

“Pretty funny actually,” Hannibal replied quietly. “Grovelling on her knees is a good look for Danica.”

“I heard about what she did to you.” For some reason Josie looked genuinely angry as she said that. “When the time comes, I’ll help you kill her…slowly.” 

Hannibal frowned, a little taken aback. “No offense but, when the time comes, I’ll kill her myself… _very slowly_." He paused then added, "I’ll let you watch though, if you’re good.”

“I'll be sure to stay on my best behaviour.” She replied with a wink and a girl guide salute.

Despite his best intentions, Hannibal found himself liking Josie. She was enthusiastic, had lots of funny quips and she could kick some serious ass. Plus, she’d taken a shine to Hedges which was hilarious in Hannibal’s book. They still weren’t quite sure how Josie had figured out that he was one of the Nightstalkers because Hedges was tech support and never went into the field, but she’d began to show up at his supermarket to offer cooking tips and at his favourite coffee shop to sit at his table and help him with his Sudoku. The poor guy had no idea how to react to it all. On the plus side, a smoking hot chick was flirting with him, which Hannibal was pretty sure had never happened to him before, but on the down side she was a vampire. Either way, he'd turn bright red and spluttery whenever he had to report a new Josie sighting to Dex and it never failed to make Hannibal laugh.

“Enough!” Drake abruptly yelled and the room was stunned into silence. He turned to the Nightstalkers. “My apologies, they will be dealt with.”

Then he ordered the vampires to go back to the Talos house. As they streamed out, there was a yelp from Hedges and he grabbed his own ass before looking at Josie who was suddenly by the door on the other side of room and grinning back at him unrepentantly.

Eventually the Nightstalkers were alone again and exchanging confused looks.

“Well, that was…different,” Hannibal said to break the silence.

Dex was still staring at the door looking more than a little shell shocked. "I could be wrong here, and excuse me if I am...but I _think_ we just got put under the protection of the king of all vampires."

"You're not wrong," Abby told him.

Hedges recovered enough from his butt pinching to exclaim, "But we're vampire slayers."

"...hunters," everyone corrected automatically. 

Hannibal snickered; he guessed that was the price you paid for working with a geek who actually owned a shitload of Buffy action figures.

Hedges waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. There's ash on the floor. Actual ash from vampires that we just killed..." There was a growl from Blade and Hedges quickly backtracked. "That _you guys_ just killed. How can he put us under his protection when we're killing his ‘subjects’?"

"Ask Hannibal," Blade said and Hannibal started in surprised.

"What? What the...how the hell would I know?" He glared at Blade but, of course, it had no effect on the master of glares himself.

"You think I don't see what's going on?" Blade demanded. "The way he stares at you all the fucking time? It's like a goddamn high school drama. Has he asked you to prom yet, cupcake?"

"Wait...what?" Abby looked between Blade and Hannibal. "Are you saying that Drake just ordered the vamps to play nice because...he has the hots for Hannibal?"

"I'm saying that Dracula can't tap that if King's dead," Blade replied, as he put his guns back into their holsters. "And I'm saying it ain't a one way street."

"What?!" Abby screeched and Hannibal winced. "Hannibal King!"

Hannibal didn't say anything but apparently the expression on his face was enough because Dex took one look at him and quietly told Hedges to go and give Sommerfield and the imminent cavalry the all clear.

"What? No; I want to stay and watch you yell at King," Hedges protested. 

Traitor.

"Now, Hedges," Dex ordered and waited until the man left, grumbling the whole way, before turning to Hannibal. "What the hell are you thinking? Do you know what will happen if any of the other cells find out about this?"

"I've got it under control," Hannibal told him. "And there is no _this_ , trust me."

"And there's your problem, King. They don't; a lot of them still think there's the possibility that you're a spy," Dex said with a sympathetic expression. "You were under the control of vampires for years and you know that the only reason they haven't put a silver bullet in your chest is because of Caulder. If they get even a hint that you've changed sides..."

"I haven't changed sides!" Hannibal growled, outraged at the suggestion.

Dex remained unflappable in the face of Hannibal's anger. "Think about how it would look from their point of view and then think about what they'll do to you. End it. Now."

"There's nothing to..." Hannibal started but Blade talked over him.

"Or don’t."

Everyone turned to look at him in shock. 

"You'd better not be suggesting that we should whore Hannibal out," Abby warned and if the anger in her voice surprised Blade then he didn't show it. For all her devil may care attitude, she could be surprisingly maternal when it came to the Nightstalkers.

Instead he shrugged. "It's not like he's not dying to get on his knees for the vamp anyway."

"Fuck you!" Hannibal snarled and only Dex's hand on his arm stopped him from lashing out at the hunter.

Blade laughed and didn't even flinch when Hannibal made to go for him again. "That whole 'do no harm' crap that Drake laid down tonight, that wasn't solely for his lovemuffin’s benefit. He really does want to make some changes and he's planning to lay down some new laws for the vamps; ones that work in our favour. The way I see it, we’ve got a better chance of knowing if he’s telling the truth if we’ve got someone close to him and if you’re already fucking, what difference is it going to make to you?”

The silence that reigned when Blade stopped talking wasn't completely down to the fact that that was the most any of them had heard the man say at any one time. Possibly more than they'd heard him say in an entire week combined.

"So..." Dex eventually said. "When Drake mentioned meeting you on many occasions, he wasn't just talking about the times he’s crashed our hunts."

“And you didn’t think to tell us about these cosy little chats?” Hannibal shook his head in disbelief; he had at least passed along everything he'd learned during his own chat with Drake, even if he hadn't mentioned the whole kissing thing. “It didn’t occur to you that this might be shit that we need to know?”

“Stop being a hypocrite, King, or don’t you have time for conversation when _you_ meet up with Drake? Maybe your mouth’s too full to do any talking?” Blade sneered and this time Hannibal paid no attention to Dex’s attempts to hold him back; he delivered a right hook to Blade’s jaw that knocked him to his ass and sent him skidding across the floor.

Blade was back on his feet a split second after he came to a stop and, tapping fully into his vampire side, jumped back across the room to deliver a kick to Hannibal’s head. Having been expecting the move, Hannibal had managed to dodge enough that he didn’t get the full blow but he was thrown off balance giving Blade the opportunity to punch him in the gut. He definitely got the full impact of _that_ and was struggling to get his breath back when Abby gave a high pitched whistle.

“Hey! That's enough!” She yelled, pushing her way between the two of them. 

It was a testament to how scary she got when she was pissed that the two preternaturally powered men let her.

"You know what? That _is_ enough," Hannibal said, thoroughly sick of Blade and his 'Big Bad Motherfucker' bullshit.

"Hannibal..." Dex called after him as he stalked to the door, intent on getting the hell off that ship.

"Let him go," he heard Abby say. "Let him blow of some steam; we can talk to him tomorrow."

As angry as he was feeling, Hannibal had to wonder if he'd even be back there tomorrow.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	5. Chapter Five - Drake

Drake was furious with the actions of the young ones and he let it show. He demanded that they all gather back at the mansion; it was time to finally take his true place. It was time to let the entire vampire nation know that their king had returned. He had seen and learned enough of this world to be able to rule once more.

As he outlined his new laws there was expected dissention but Drake managed to stop that cold by shifting into his demon form and quickly dispensing with the loudest protestors; including Jarko, something he'd wished to do since he'd seen him fighting with Hannibal earlier that night.

Surprisingly, Danica and her brother remained quiet throughout the proceedings as the realisation of just what they had awoken sunk in. Even more surprising was the vastly different emotions he was picking from their minds; Danica was obviously angry, shocked and already scheming whereas with Asher, Drake got the sense that he was almost pleased.

It was when he reached the issue of werewolves, that Drake was met with the most resistance. He had been expecting that; not one of these vampires was old enough to remember a time when werewolves were _not_ their enemy. They had been told by their sires and elders that werewolves were vicious creatures that had to be exterminated; that Drake himself had declared war on them. The idea that Drake was suddenly speaking out on their behalf was obviously shocking. 

He waited until the shouting died down, something they should be appreciative of because Drake had already shown that night that he was not normally a patient man. 

"The war with the werewolves is finished. None of your arguments will change my mind on this." He made sure to put power behind his words to emphasise just how serious he was. He turned to Danica. "I wish to call a meeting with the six elders; arrange to have them here one week from today."

Danica's head shot up and she stared at him in surprise. "One week? There's no way that we can get them to come here at such short notice!"

"I am their king," Drake said. "They will find a way or they will face the consequences."

"So, you want us to tell them that you're awake?" Asher asked, looking a little confused. "You don't want to surprise them when they get here?"

“I would be shocked if they have not already heard whispers and rumours of my return,” Drake told him. “The hunters know I am here and your familiars have no doubt been trading on the information.”

A few of the vampires shifted uncomfortably and Drake took note of which ones; clearly the remark about familiars had hit close to home and they were aware of what their familiars were doing, perhaps even encouraged it while they themselves were compelled to stay quiet about Drake. None of it was unexpected.

It took the rest of the night to finish issuing his new rules and orders so the sun had already risen by the time Drake left the mansion to meet up with Josie. He'd left her to keep watch over the Nightstalkers but found her on the opposite side of the city from the boat, sitting on a rooftop overlooking a rundown hotel.

"Your wolf is in there," she told Drake before he had to ask and nodded towards the hotel. "He left the boat in one hell of a temper not long after you ordered the rabble out. Patrolled around the city, killed a couple of vampires too stupid to sense the danger and then booked into the delightful 'Paradise Towers'. If you're going in after him, watch out for the sex workers on the ground floor; they're feisty."

Drake raised an amused eyebrow at her. "I do not wish to know how you discovered that. Also, what makes you believe that I'll be going in there after him?"

"You're finally coming out of the dark, aren’t you?" she replied. "That means it's also time for you to stop giving Hannibal his space and actually talk to the guy; let him in on your grand schemes. He is going to be involved in a couple of them."

Drake simply nodded and turned to look at the hotel again.

"How were things at Casa de Loco? How many of them did you have to kill?" Josie asked.

"Nine," he answered and she laughed.

"I actually thought it would be more. Do you want me to stick around here, Boss, or shall I go back and prepare for the assassination attempts that are going to start coming our way from the rest of them?" 

Drake chuckled and shook his head. "Go back to the mansion. I believe that they will need at least a full day to plan any such assassinations so you should get some sleep while you can."

She grinned at him. "Did you just make a joke? I am such a good influence on you."

With that she jumped off the edge of the building and quickly disappeared from sight, though Drake knew she would be able to hear his muttered, "Impudent childe."

It was easy to track Hannibal's scent to his room and, as this hotel did not seem to place any importance on security, it took mere seconds to get inside. Hannibal was asleep, sprawled on his stomach across the bed with a thin sheet tangled around him. Drake took a seat in the room's only chair and appreciated the view as he settled in to wait.

By the time Hannibal awoke it was afternoon and Drake was absorbed in a well thumbed romance novel he’d found abandoned in a drawer. Hannibal had barely opened his eyes before he pulled a gun from under his pillow and pointed it at Drake. 

“Why did you choose to sleep in this place?” Drake asked, unperturbed by the weapon; it wouldn’t do much to hurt him.

“Hey, I get to ask the questions, not the creepy guy who apparently broke in to watch me sleep!” Hannibal protested but it was broken by a yawn. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Drake ignored the question and studied just how tired Hannibal was looking. “You haven’t been getting enough sleep.”

Hannibal blinked at the non-sequitur. “No shit, Sherlock. For some reason I’ve had a lot on my mind; not really conducive to getting my full eight hours.”

He lowered the gun and sat up, scrubbing a hand over his face as he did. He was apparently so exhausted that he didn’t even seem to notice the way Drake’s eyes swept over his torso; that tight tank top doing nothing to hide the muscular body beneath. He was here to talk to Hannibal so, with an internal sigh, Drake looked away and threw the book onto the table albeit with a little more force than necessary.

The noise startled Hannibal who looked at the table then gave Drake an incredulous look. “Have you been reading ‘Bridget Jones’ Diary’? I’ve found myself waking up in a no-tell hotel with a chick lit reading vampire king? Jesus, it’s like the world’s completely stopped making sense.”

“A wide variety of literature increases my knowledge of the world as it is now,” Drake told him archly. He glanced at the book again and frowned. “Women are greatly changed.”

Hannibal snorted. “And you didn’t already figure that out from Josie and Danica?”

Drake shot Hannibal a wry look at that and then frowned again at the bruises under the wolf’s eyes. “You have been losing sleep because of me?”

“Not like that...I’m not a teenage girl," Hannibal crossed his arms, looking irritated, then sighed. “It's just not normal. We should be trying to kill each other not wanting to shove our tongues down each others throats or whatever the hell _this_ is. We’re at war with each other...”

“Not any longer,” Drake interrupted. “I have proclaimed the war over.”

"Wait...what?!" Hannibal stared at Drake incredulously as he repeated himself. “You say it's over and it's over? Just like that?”

“Yes.” Drake nodded. “I expect that there will be resistance at first, the war has waged too long for there not to be, but they will obey me or face the consequences.”

“And what exactly are these consequences?” Hannibal asked dubiously.

Drake smirked. “They get handed to the wolves.”

Hannibal choked on thin air. “Excuse me?”

“I told you change was coming, Hannibal King,” Drake reminded him. “What happened to your people was an atrocity. I was unable to put a stop to it then but I can do it now and I can offer you a small measure of vengeance.”

Silence descended over the room. Drake could see that Hannibal was struggling with this new information so he stayed quiet and let him work through it; after all, there was more to come. 

“Why?” Hannibal eventually asked. “I know that you said...I didn’t believe that you’d actually...shit!” He shook his head. “Why would you go against your entire race to help us?”

Drake felt pleased that Hannibal hadn’t questioned if Drake was telling the truth; the effort he’d put into trying to gain the Nightstalkers and Hannibal’s trust was beginning to pay off. It was time to tell Hannibal the full story, the one that he’d only ever told Josie and even then just the highlights. 

“I told you that werewolves used to be our allies and that was true,” he began. “My closest friend was a wolf called Timaeus. We played together as children and were as close as brothers by the time we became men. One day, I left to fight in a war far away and when I returned a lifetime later, I found that he had a child; a daughter called Aditye and she was one of the most beautiful creatures that I had ever seen. I knew the moment we met that I had to make her mine.”

“That doesn’t sound like you at all,” Hannibal muttered and Drake chuckled before continuing with his story.

“The more time we spent together, the more we fell in love; it seemed like destiny that I would marry this woman that I loved and also become a true family with my friend, " he said. "We were to be wed under the light of a new moon but several days before that happened, I was attacked by some of my own people."

"They weren't happy with you marrying outside of the vamps," Hannibal guessed.

"The Countess Ethelene, one of the vampire clan leaders, believed that I should have wed _her_ ," Drake explained. "She was a very handsome woman however, to me, that beauty was marred by her growing greed. Unfortunately there were people who fell for her countenance and pretty words. She persuaded those vampires that I had been blinded by Aditye and that Timaeus and the rest of the werewolves were using magicks so that they could control me and through me, all of the vampires. Truly, she wanted retribution for my spurning of her advances."

"And I'm guessing that _she_ was actually the one who wanted to control the vampires." At Drake's nod Hannibal gave a huff of disbelief. "What did she do?"

"She killed Aditye," Drake told him quietly as the memories played in his head. "Ethelene had one of the vampires administer a poison to my favoured human; the poison was harmless to him but once I drank from him I was greatly weakened. At that point Ethelene and her followers entered my rooms and used Aditye's distraction by my sudden sickness to slit her throat. Then, while I was still too weakened to fight, they took me from the rooms and imprisoned me in my tomb far below."

"Whoa, whoa..." Hannibal leaned forward intently. "Are you saying that you were _imprisoned_? This whole time?”

Drake nodded his head. "They brought in a human sorcerer to cast spells over the sepulchre in order to keep me bound within until Ethelene chose to release me. According to the lore I have read since waking, Ethelene then gathered the clan elders to inform them that she and her followers had interrupted Aditye's attempt to assassinate me..."

"I know that part," Hannibal said. "'Due to the severity of his injuries the king chose to sleep in order to heal. The vampires, outraged that their king had been attacked, demanded vengeance; thus began the war of vampires and werewolves.' My godmother used to tell me the story when I was growing up. Of course, she didn’t know the details so it was just some faceless werewolf assassin. Also, back then I thought it was just a story."

Drake recalled Ruiz saying that when they captured Hannibal, he had just experienced his first shift and didn't appear to realise what was happening to him. It seemed that Hannibal hadn't actually known he was a werewolf before that point or even that werewolves and vampires were real. He almost asked about Hannibal's parents and why they hadn't been around to explain all of that to him, but he could make an educated guess at that answer. With the obvious exception of Hannibal, werewolves these days were either dead or in hiding and Drake didn't believe that any parent would go into hiding without taking their child with them.

"So this new plan of handing the naughtiest vamps to us is as much about your revenge as it is ours," Hannibal guessed. "Are you going to give us the ones that plotted against you?"

Drake gave a smile. "As appealing as that thought is, Ethelene was herself assassinated and the remaining followers of hers were killed during Deacon Frost's ill conceived quest to become a god."

"Shame, I'd have enjoyed killing them," Hannibal mused and his wish to avenge Drake pleased the vampire very much.

"I have plans for you too, my wolf," Drake added, raking his eyes over Hannibal and smirking when he flushed in response. “Far more enjoyable ones.”

He pointed a finger at Drake. "Stop that! We're having a serious discussion right now and, besides, I don't want to get into all that again."

Drake hummed and pushed himself to his feet. "I did not believe you last time, what makes you think I will believe you now?"

"Because you've had time to think on it and have realised it's a supremely bad idea?" Hannibal tried, his eyes fixed on Drake as he approached the bed. 

"I have had time to think upon it and I believe that it is an excellent idea, Hannibal," Drake told him, grabbing hold of the sheet and pulling it off his wolf until he was sitting on the bed in just his shirt and shorts. 

He chuckled as he pointedly looked at the confirmation of how very interested Hannibal was in proceedings despite his protests and then climbed onto the bed to crawl over Hannibal's body.

"Christ!" Hannibal muttered in a shaky voice when Drake pushed him back down onto the mattress. "If you want me and the Nightstalkers to help you bring the vamps to heel, and I’m assuming that’s why you befriended us, then maybe we need to consider that work and sex doesn't mix."

"Does it not?" Drake slipped his hands beneath Hannibal's shirt and pushed the material up, allowing him to kiss his way from stomach to chest. "Why is that?"

"Umm...it's uhh...well...oh, fucked if I know! Get the hell up here!" Hannibal demanded and Drake laughed even as he surged up to kiss him deeply. 

Just as the last time, Hannibal refused to submit to Drake during the kiss and pushed back, kissing just as hard and passionately. And, just as the last time, it sent fire through Drake's veins. Hannibal began to impatiently push at Drake's clothing so they broke the kiss long enough to strip before falling back together. 

Drake gave a low groan at the feel of Hannibal pressed against him at last but he resisted the urge to simply rock against the other man until they both reached completion; he had different plans and they began with driving his wolf out of his mind. He reached between their bodies and took hold of Hannibal, beginning to tease him by alternating between too-light touches and firm strokes. 

"If we are to work together then perhaps we should consider that there are many ways to cement an alliance," he said conversationally, grinning when Hannibal gave him an incredulous look.

"You want to discuss this...oh god...discuss it now?" Hannibal arched up into Drake's hand and groaned.

Licking at those kiss swollen lips, Drake murmured, "I merely wished to assuage your worries concerning work and sex."

Hannibal gave a breathless laugh. "Wow, you're kind of a dick aren't you? And, of course, I’m just fucked up enough to like that."

Drake grinned and rewarded him with a twist of his wrist that had Hannibal grabbing his shoulders, a hint of claw scratching at the skin. 

“Fuck...do that again,” Hannibal panted but instead of complying with the order, Drake let go; he was not satisfied with just touching anymore, he needed to taste.

He moved down the body beneath him until he could take him into his mouth, causing Hannibal to cry out. Hannibal was already leaking and Drake moaned when the flavour burst over his taste buds, that in turn created vibrations which had Hannibal cursing and grabbing onto Drake desperately. Drake would have felt smug about that but he was too busy savouring the taste of Hannibal and relishing the heavy weight on his tongue. He had had many vampires and familiars offering to come into his bed since he had awoken but he had held out and was now glad that he had because none of them could have held a candle to his gorgeous wolf. 

Drake set out to show Hannibal just how much he desired him and it was not long before Hannibal was writhing against him, yelling out curse word after curse word as he spilled down Drake’s throat.

Once he was satisfied that Hannibal had nothing more to give, Drake climbed back up the bed to kiss him and let him taste himself in Drake's mouth; something which Hannibal enjoyed if his moans were anything to go by.

After exchanging some long kisses, Hannibal suddenly bucked into the air, catching Drake by surprise and flipping him onto his back. Hannibal straddled his lap, laughing at the shock Drake knew was showing on his face, before leaning down to whisper in his ear.

"My turn."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	6. Chapter Six - Hannibal

Hannibal began to wish that he'd checked into a nicer hotel when he grabbed a quick shower that was lukewarm at best. He emerged from the bathroom to find Drake still lounging on the bed as if he was lying upon 100% Egyptian cotton sheets and not scratchy 99¢ ones from the cheap-ass store around the corner.

"You neglected to tell me why you chose to rest here instead of at your group's boat," Drake told him. 

"Hey, it worked out well for you; I doubt you could've snuck into the hideout to ravish me," Hannibal said, dropping his paper thin towel to pull his shorts back on; it wasn't as if Drake hadn't seen everything already. "I got into a fight with Blade and needed to get away for a while." He paused as something occurred to him. "Goddamn it! Now I can't punch him again for accusing me of fucking you!"

"You punched Blade?" Drake asked in an amused tone as he lazily studied Hannibal's body and Hannibal tried very hard not to blush like Hedges. 

"Hell yeah, I did and it was awesome," Hannibal told him smugly. "Man, I've been wanting to do that ever since he joined us. He's a sanctimonious prick but Abs likes him and we do need him, so..."

He trailed off with a shrug and picked his pants up off the floor to pull those on too.

"He is a great warrior but he carries too much anger within him." Drake sat up as Hannibal took a seat at the edge of the bed, facing him. "It makes him as dangerous to his allies as to his enemies. I plan to offer him and the Nightstalkers an opportunity to help me but perhaps it would be best if Blade worked separately from the others."

"Okay, I think you need to tell me more about this new regime of yours before you starting issuing job offers to the hunters," Hannibal told him and Drake nodded, standing up from the bed to pull some clothes on; which was a crying shame.

"I will be returning the vampires to the old ways. We will feed only from the willing, mainly our familiars, and never enough to kill; there are ways to feed without draining the human and the vampires will have to learn them quickly or perish. Slaying every person we feed from is bringing undue attention upon us from the humans." Drake took a seat on the chair opposite the bed so that he was facing Hannibal. “Werewolves are not to be harmed by any vampire. I would put you and the other werewolf hunter in charge of pursuing those vampires who commit crimes against your kind and enacting their punishment. As I have already explained the war between our people is over; it is my hope that one day the werewolves stop hiding from us and prosper once more."

Hannibal struggled to control his surprise when Drake mentioned the other werewolf hunter. He’d thought that Caulder was well hidden, after all the man never left the lab at his cell. Clearly Drake and Josie had been far more thorough in their study of the city’s hunters than Hannibal had realised. 

"Okay, so no to killing; werewolves or humans. What else are you doing to rile your kiddies up?" Hannibal asked; this was getting wilder and wilder with almost every word Drake said. 

The vampires were going to hate 'the old ways'.

"I intend to make changes to the way familiars are chosen and conduct themselves. The ones who we are currently allied with are corrupt; trading on the lives of their fellow men in order to gain power and wealth. I will not stand for that," Drake said and Hannibal remembered the disgusted tone of voice when he'd talked about Vance. 

He also remembered the way Danica and the rest of the clan used to crow about which high ranking officials, politicians and even celebrities they had made into their familiars in order to control them. This was another new law that was not going to go down well.

"Jeez, you're really not looking to win any popularity contests are you?" Hannibal shook his head. "Seriously, you're going to need to be on your guard because someone's going to try that poison trick on you again."

"You and Josie...both worried that I'll be harmed.” Drake chuckled. “I think sometimes you both forget who I am.”

“Oh no, I’m well aware of who you are,” Hannibal assured him and winced as it came out a little sharper than he’d intended.

Drake studied him for a long moment, long enough that Hannibal began to fidget. “It pains me that you associate me with those who caused you so much suffering but I promise you, my wolf, I will never let that happen to you again and anyone who tries will spend the rest of their days languishing in agony.”

Wow. If Hannibal had thought Josie was mad on his behalf back on the boat it was nothing compared to the utter fury flashing in Drake’s eyes. Only a crazy man would find that comforting…but Hannibal had never claimed to be sane and he nodded his understanding, not quite trusting his voice to hold up right then.

Seemingly satisfied that Hannibal believed what he was saying, Drake continued. “As for those who have already hurt you, you have a week to decide their punishment. Although, I shall admit that I began the job last night.”

Hannibal couldn’t even begin to deal with the first part of that statement so he chose to ignore it and instead snorted. “Who did you kill?”

He fell back on his tried and true method of using the humour in the situation to cover any emotion he was feeling, and he was feeling a lot of emotion right now. He’d never had anyone promise to fight for him before only pity, from those who knew what he’d been through, or distrust from those who didn’t care. Even Asher could only help him so much, not that Hannibal held it against him; the vampire had his own problems to deal with. Drake though, the vehemence with which he made that promise, left no room for Hannibal to doubt it.

“Jarko,” Drake said in answer to Hannibal’s question. “The woman called Jessica and the one called Sophia. There were some others whose names I did not know but they were very young so I do not believe that they knew you. Also, Josie killed Ruiz; that was…a thing of beauty.”

Hannibal blinked. “You killed Jarko?”

“He refused to obey my laws,” Drake told him. “Should I have stayed my hand?”

“No!” Hannibal assured him. “Seriously, that fucker more than deserved to die…” He froze as something occurred to him, then he asked, “What about Asher?”

“He still lives,” Drake replied and Hannibal gave an inward sigh of relief, he was one member of the Talos clan he _didn’t_ want to see dead. “I actually find him intriguing, he does not appear to be as mindless as the rest of them.”

“He’s not,” Hannibal admitted. “Asher helped me a lot when I was stuck as Danica’s bitch and he usually gives me a heads up on any of her crazier schemes these days. He’s been a good friend when I really needed one.”

“In that case, he shall be spared whatever fate you decide for the Talos clan,” Drake said. 

And there was the earlier statement that Hannibal had been trying to ignore, raising its ugly head again. 

“Whatever fate _I_ decide. You’re ridiculous, you know that, right?” Hannibal rolled his eyes. “New laws, an end to the war, and now giving a werewolf power over one of the most influential vampire clans in this part of the country? I swear that this entire conversation could not get any more ludicrous.”

Drake smiled. “Consider the Talos clan my wedding present to you.”

“I stand corrected; it can clearly get a whole lot more ludicrous,” Hannibal said, staring at Drake in disbelief. “ What the actual fuck are you talking about?”

“I need to prove that my word is true when it comes to the werewolves. Before my imprisonment, I had intended to cement an alliance between our species when I wed Aditye. I wish to fulfil that promise,” Drake explained, a little too calmly for Hannibal’s liking.

Hannibal dropped his head to look at the floor, fiercely trying to bury the stupid stab of disappointment that Drake’s words had caused.

“So that’s what this was,” he muttered with a nod of his head down at the bed he sat on. “A way to keep a centuries old promise that no one even remembers.”

“I remember,” Drake replied. “There is a lot of bad blood for us all to work through but I do believe that we will reach an understanding and become allies once more. I have persuaded you to stand beside me and you have suffered more than most. While not an instant remedy, getting others to accept my vow shall be easier with you by my side."

Hannibal raised a sardonic eyebrow at him. "You planning on fucking the rest of them too?"

"No, only you have that honour." Drake smirked at him and Hannibal cursed the fact that that still had an effect on him even though he now knew that this was all just some kind of business deal to Drake.

He didn’t know what he’d expected, really. He mentally shook his head at the warm fuzzies he’d had just minutes earlier when Drake had got so angry on his behalf; he, of all people, knew better. There was no happy ever after for people, wolves, like him. Especially not with the goddamn king of all vampires. Christ, what was wrong with him?

Hannibal had obviously been lost in his thoughts for a bit too long because Drake frowned and tilted his head as he studied him. 

“I have said something to upset you.”

“Nope.” Hannibal obnoxiously popped the ‘p’. “Just thinking that it will take more work than you think to get the werewolves on side. I should probably get started on that right away.”

He pulled on the rest of his clothes as he babbled, just wanting to get out of there as quickly as he could so that he could sort his head out in private.

“So, I’ll…uh…see you around,” he said, hopping on one foot as he pulled on his final boot.

Drake moved quicker than Hannibal could track and pinned him against the wall beside the door. Hannibal automatically bared his fangs at the move. But, just as he couldn’t stop his automatic wolfy defence mechanism from kicking in, he also couldn’t stop his body’s reaction to Drake’s proximity. Especially when Drake’s thigh slid between Hannibal’s and rubbed against him. Hannibal held back a groan but it didn’t really matter when Drake sniffed him, as if to make sure that Hannibal still wanted him, and then stepped back. Although, even while he was apparently satisfied that Hannibal wasn't suddenly repulsed by him, he still wore a frown.

“We shall meet again soon,” Drake told him and Hannibal nodded once before fleeing the room.

Fuck!

Hannibal left the hotel and began a circuitous route through the city, using all his skills to make sure that anyone following would be hopelessly lost, before he headed to the outlying hunter's base where Caulder lived. Sebastian let him in with the usual amount of healthy distrust but Hannibal had proven his worth over the past few years so the grizzled old veteran had stopped actively hating him a while back. Hannibal thought that if things kept going the way things were going, they could maybe one day upgrade their relationship to apathetic. Fingers crossed.

He quickly made his way down to the bunker where Caulder's lab was housed and let himself in without knocking; Caulder would've sensed that he was there before he even he entered the building. 

"Tell Sommerfield that I haven't had time to look at her latest results yet," Caulder said, without lifting his head from whatever it was that he was doing with some test tubes and an actual bunsen burner. "I may be a werewolf but even I take longer than two hours to read through that amount of work and that's without taking into account the fact that I've got research of my own to keep on top of."

Hannibal flopped into a comfy armchair that Caulder had scrounged up from somewhere a couple of years earlier and that Hannibal had claimed as his own. "Sommerfield didn't send me. I haven't seen any of the Nightstalkers since last night."

Caulder nodded absently. "Right. I heard that you got into it with Blade."

Hannibal snorted. "Hunter gossip travels fast."

"Sommerfield asked me, this morning, if I'd seen you," Caulder replied as he noted something in a book. "Zoe's worried you won't go back there."

"Nice that one of them cares, at least," Hannibal muttered. 

"None of that," Caulder admonished. "They care, they're just under the daywalker's spell right now. The shine will rub off him soon enough and they'll remember that they're competent hunters in their own right."

The two wolves shared a knowing look. Whistler Snr had a lot to answer for; spreading tales of Blade and his adventures throughout the hunter community until most of them looked at him as some sort of great goth hope for the world. Obviously, that was particularly bad when it came to the Nightstalkers because of Abby and her hero worship of her old man; even if they hadn't actually got along all that well in person. 

Hannibal hummed and then sent a quick text to Zoe, via her mother's phone, to let her know he'd be back soon while he waited for Caulder to finish his experiment. 

Eventually, Caulder made a final note, shut his book and turned to pin Hannibal with that thousand yard stare of his. "Alright, what's got you so tightly wound, pup?"

Hannibal cut his eyes to the main door to indicate that this conversation wasn't for curious hunter ears. Caulder nodded and opened the hatch to his bedroom, even further down into the bunker – never let it be said that Caulder wasn’t paranoid as fuck.

Hannibal followed him down the wooden steps and closed the hatch after them. He jumped onto the bed, bouncing a couple of times until Caulder gave him an unimpressed look.

With a sigh, Hannibal stopped avoiding the reason he was here. “I think I’m in trouble, elder.”

The other hunter cells, of course, knew about Drake and Josie’s overtures towards the Nightstalkers so Hannibal could skip over some parts of the story but he held nothing back when confiding in Caulder about his personal interactions with Drake. Not to mention everything Drake had told him about the new vampire laws.

When he finished, Caulder dropped heavily onto the bed beside him. “The war’s over? And you believe him?”

Hannibal nodded. “I do. Whether the suckheads listen is another issue but I think he’s going to try and enforce it …which brings us to the fact that he’ll need help to do it.”

“From us.” 

It wasn’t a question but Hannibal nodded anyway. There were simply too many vamps for Drake to fight alone if they decided to revolt – which, let’s face it, they were pretty much guaranteed to do. He needed the hunters and as many of the werewolves as they could talk into this, if he wanted a hope of winning.

Caulder was silent for a long time. He looked completely shell shocked and Hannibal couldn’t blame him. Caulder was a couple of centuries old, one of the oldest werewolves that remained, thanks to his paranoid nature, and all he’d known his entire life was the war between werewolves and vampires. He’d seen his family, his pack and his friends hunted down and slaughtered. Now, not only had he discovered that the entire war had been based on the lies of an insanely jealous and power hungry woman but that there was a chance to end it within their grasp. They just had to trust a vampire. _The King Vampire_.

“What are you thinking?” Hannibal asked when the quiet got to be a bit too much.

For a moment he thought that Caulder wasn’t going to answer but then he spoke. “If Drake knows about me, does he know about Daystar?”

“No,” Hannibal replied with complete confidence. “That shit is locked down tighter than a nun’s panties. He’s not exactly subtle; he’d have brought it up by now if he knew about it.”

Caulder nodded. “Then maybe you should tell him.”

Hannibal blinked at him. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Caulder replied. “It can be _your_ wedding present to _him_.”

Hannibal growled before jumping to his feet and beginning to pace the small room. “Oh, this is funny to you somehow?”

Caulder sighed, suddenly looking old. “No, it’s not. It’s not funny at all and it’s not fair to you but you’re going to accept and you know it; because that’s just who you are, pup.”

Hannibal scoffed. “A masochist?”

“A fighter,” Caulder corrected. “When I heard the rumours that Danica Talos had a pet werewolf and sent the hunters in to rescue you, I expected a completely broken, shadow of a wolf and instead I got you. Drake is right; you’ve suffered more than most of us. We’ve all lost loved ones but you also lived through everything that barbaric woman did to you and you came out stronger. Then instead of going underground, which no one would have blamed you for, you decided to keep fighting.”

“Aww, shucks. You’re going to make me blush,” Hannibal snarked, uncomfortable as he always was when anyone said something nice about him – he was far more used to unpleasant things being said about him. 

Caulder ignored that and continued. “You’ve been battling for us ever since you were freed and you’re going to keep doing it until the day you die. I can see it in you, pup, and here’s a chance for you to fight from a position of power, a real chance to enact peace and make sure that it lasts. Are you honestly telling me that you’re not going to take it? All because you have a crush on your would-be husband and he doesn’t have one back?”

“Well, if you’re going to put it like that…” Hannibal muttered; he’d seen this conversation going a lot differently in his head. “You really want me to tell him about Daystar? The hunters won’t like it.”

That was an understatement, some of them might try to take his head off if he did that. So much for the hoped for apathy with Sebastian.

“I can put out the word among the remaining packs and Abigail can talk to the hunters but there won’t be enough fighters to help him. There is too much distrust for many to come forward based on Dracula’s word; they'll believe that it is a trap,” Caulder told him. “He needs Daystar for his plans to work. And, of course, we will need his blood in order for it to perform as it should and then we have to figure out a way to stop it affecting him…”

“Or Josie,” Hannibal interjected. 

Caulder nodded, his eyes staring into the middle distance as he thought. “Perhaps if we change the protein strands so that…”

Hannibal tuned out then, just as he always did when the geeks got technical on him. Instead he tried to figure out how to move forward with this. If Abby was going to rally the hunters then he needed to persuade her that standing besides Drake was a good idea, which could be a tall order right now considering vampires had just been responsible for getting her father killed. He loved her but she was one of the most stubborn people he'd ever met so if he approached it the wrong way and accidentally riled her up, it would be a nightmare to get her to see things from his side. As much as he hated to admit it, and he really hated to admit it, it would probably be best to get Blade on side first. The hybrid already seemed to support what Drake was up to and Abby still had that whole adulation thing going on with Blade so she might be more open to his suggestions. Actually using Blade to suggest the idea would probably work with a lot of the hunters, except Sommerfield who rather ironically saw right through the hybrid. But Hannibal would leave Sommerfield to Caulder.

"I need to apologise to Blade, don't I?" Hannibal asked aloud.

"I do not think that you need to go so far as to apologise," Caulder told him. "I doubt he would believe you if you did. But I do think that you need to have a conversation with him."

"A whole conversation?" Hannibal whined. "That could take weeks. I'm pretty sure that he's rationed the amount of words he can say per day."

Caulder rolled his eyes. "So _you_ do the talking. Lord knows that you have no such problem, pup."

Hannibal nodded. He could do that.

Over the next hour or so, he and Caulder outlined a plan to try and gather as many hunters and wolves to their side as they could. Caulder would immediately get to work on altering Daystar but he needed a sample of Drake's blood - possibly Josie's too - which meant that Hannibal needed to find Drake and tell him about Daystar sooner rather than later. After the way he'd just run out on the other man, that wasn't a meeting that Hannibal was looking forward to because Drake was the person that he should actually apologise to. 

The pair of them hashed it all out as well as they could by themselves and Hannibal stood to leave.

"I will see you tomorrow night," Caulder said and raised an eyebrow in surprise when Hannibal closed his eyes with a curse. "You forgot?"

"Not so much 'forgot', "Hannibal told him. "More that other things have taken my attention."

Caulder nodded. "They will have to be put on the backburner tomorrow night, pup. The moon takes precedence."

Werewolves could shift any time they wished but on a full moon they had no option but to shift. It was when they were at their most vulnerable and not just from vampires but from frightened humans who believed that they were actual wolves. It was always safer to spend the shift with another wolf but it was a delicate balance, too many wolves together would attract attention from the vamps who hunted on full moons and who knew the subtle differences that marked a werewolf rather than a wolf wolf. Hannibal, obviously, spent his shifts with Caulder and had done since being freed from Danica. He hated full moons with a passion, convinced that if Danica was going to come for him again, that’s when she’d do it, and it had taken many months before Caulder’s presence was able to keep him calm through the whole night. Even now, he had bad months but they were getting further and further apart. This was the first month that he’d actually forgotten about the shift.

In hindsight, all the signs had been there but, as he told Caulder, all the craziness lately had distracted him from the familiar ache in his bones and restless energy that marked the days before a full moon. Actually, that probably explained quite a few things now that he thought about it.

“Okay, so I’d better get things in motion before I’m out of commission for a whole night,” Hannibal muttered, almost to himself. 

“Probably the best plan,” Caulder agreed. “Who are you going to talk to first?”

“Isn’t that the $64,000,000 question,” Hannibal replied as he climbed the steps and pushed open the door at the top. “I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

When he stepped out the building into the cool night air, suppressing a smile at the way Sebastian had immediately slammed the main door shut behind him, Hannibal stood where he was for a moment and closed his eyes. He let his senses roam until he picked up a familiar scent. 

“Alright, let's start with you,” he murmured and cracked his neck before taking off at a run after the scent.

Blade was battling a group of fledglings who had no idea what they were up against. Hannibal stayed out of the way and let him do his thing; Blade definitely wasn’t the type to enjoy sharing a kill. 

“You here to rumble again, King?” Blade didn’t even look in Hannibal’s direction, just wiped the dust of the last vamp off his sword and slid it back into the scabbard on his back. “I have to admit, I’ve never fought a werewolf and you’ve obviously been holding back.”

Blade’s fingers glided over his own jaw and Hannibal smirked. “Maybe another day. Right now, we need to talk about Drake.”

“Trouble in paradise?” Blade finally turned to face him.

Hannibal ignored that and asked, “When you had these meetings with him, did he tell you what he’s planning to do?”

“He told me enough,” Blade answered. “He’s going to bring the suckheads into line, set out new laws for them to follow, thin their numbers and stop…”

“Stop the war with the werewolves,” Hannibal finished and Blade nodded. “Do you buy it?”

“The war part?”

“All of it,” Hannibal said. “Any of it. And I’m talking to you, not this cut-rate Shaft persona you put on for the tourists. Do you believe him?”

For a second Hannibal thought that the other man was going to get all riled up over the Shaft comment, seriously Hannibal had to work on that brain mouth filter thing that Abby kept telling him about, but instead Blade actually seemed to think it over.

“I think that he means what he says,” he eventually replied. “But he’ll fail.”

“Then why help him?” Hannibal asked. 

Blade’s answer was in line with what he and Caulder thought too but Hannibal was genuinely curious as to why Blade would knowingly back what he thought was the losing dog in this fight.

“Because there’s a chance that he won’t fail.” Blade shrugged. “What the fuck is this about, King? You worried that he’s just giving you pretty promises in order to get his dick wet?”

“Who says that it’s his dick getting wet?” Hannibal shot back and it was worth it just to see the expression Blade pulled as he clearly pictured that in his mind. 

Actually, it was a very pretty picture and Hannibal had to cut that train of thought off before he got distracted. 

“Maybe we could give him that chance to not fail,” Hannibal said, getting back on topic. “We could give him Daystar.”

Again, Blade surprised Hannibal by actually considering it without Hannibal having to goad him into it. 

“The others won’t go for it,” he eventually said.

“They will if you suggest it,” Hannibal told him. “You’re hunter messiah, after all.”

"Messiah?" Blade snarled. “I’m no one’s fucking saviour.”

“No argument from me, “Hannibal agreed. “You’re far too much of an asshole. But the hunters will listen to you. Better than they’ll listen to…”

“Dracula’s boytoy,” Blade finished.

“I was going to go with werewolf but considering that he wants to build an alliance between the vamps and wolves by having a…partnership with me, your description’s not going to be far off in their eyes,” Hannibal told him.

Blade raised an eyebrow at Hannibal’s stumble over the word ‘partnership’ as if he realised that wasn’t the word Hannibal should’ve used but he let it pass, surprisingly. 

“I’ll think about it,” Blade told him and it was Hannibal’s turn to look incredulous.

“You’ll think about it?” he asked. “I’m not asking you for a new puppy, daddy. This is fucking important.”

“And I said that I’ll fucking think about it,” Blade growled before he turned and stalked out of the car park, all flapping leather coat and bad attitude.

"Jackass!" Hannibal muttered; Blade was clearly just stalling to maintain his air of mysteriousness and to piss Hannibal off. "Okay, one down and one to go."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	7. Chapter Seven - Drake

If Drake had not been able to prove to himself that Hannibal was still very much attracted to him, he would not have been able to let his wolf run away from him in such a manner. He knew, however, that forcing him to stay when he needed some space would make him feel trapped and that was the opposite of how he wanted Hannibal to feel. That did not mean that Drake was not angry about how things had ended between them. A fact that he made very clear when he returned to the Talos mansion.

"Boss, you know that I love you," Josie started when Drake brushed the ash of the fourth vampire he had killed since returning from the hotel from his jacket. "But it's considered a douchey move to promise someone something and then not actually have that something to give them."

"What are you talking about?" Drake glared at her.

She shrugged. "Wasn't the plan to give this clan to Hannibal King to 'do with as he will'. Not cool to go back on that by killing them all first. Definitely not the best way to start a marriage."

He growled and not just at her atrocious impersonation of him. 

"He has not accepted my proposal," he admitted.

Josie stared at him. "He said 'no'?"

"He has also not done that." Drake huffed and turned to glower out of the window.

"So, he freaked out and ran away?" Josie tried instead and Drake gave a slight nod. "Can hardly blame him, to be honest. Even excluding the whole vampire and werewolves are mortal enemies thing, not many people propose after just one tumble these days."

"I am not 'people'," Drake told her, getting better at interpreting her modern vernacular. "What is the point of waiting when I know what I want?"

Josie came to stand beside him, also looking out the window. "Because it's not just about you. You have to take what he wants into account too."

"He wants me," Drake said firmly, remembering the way Hannibal could not hide his attraction to Drake even in the midst of his 'freak out'.

"Forever or just for a couple of quick fucks?" Josie asked quietly and flinched a little when Drake snarled at her impudence.

"He is mine. He is destined to be mine," he growled.

She turned away from the view to study him. "In that he's descended from Aditye's pack, right? Are you sure that you're not transferring your feelings for her onto him?"

Anger rising at her continued insolence, Drake slammed his hand against the glass next to her head. A web of cracks travelled outward from the point of impact and Josie swallowed hard but she kept eye contact and didn't back down. He would be proud if he was not so annoyed.

"I just mean that you haven't been out of the ground for very long and it takes time to process that kind of trauma." She kept her voice low and respectful. "You have to be missing her and it would be natural to transfer that affection when you came across her pack's scent here after all that time, rather than dealing with the grief of losing her."

Drake sighed and let his anger fade; she was just trying to help him and he had had similar thoughts himself, after all.

"Hannibal is nothing like Aditye," he told her. "Even if I could have become confused because of the familiar scent, I could not entangle the two in such a way. Aditye was soft spoken and agreeable; so easy to love and be loved by. Hannibal is...acerbic and constantly in motion. Hard where she was soft. He forces you to fight for his trust and affection which will make receiving it all the sweeter."

He looked away staring unseeing out at the cityscape again. "I have had a long time to grieve for Aditye and I have come to realise that for all her strength as a wolf, she was naive and too trusting. Hannibal would never let himself become vulnerable to attack the way she did, has already survived far more than I believe she would have, and that stands him apart despite his ancestry. That survival instinct of his, on top of his other qualities, is quite captivating to me."

Josie nodded. "Does he know that?"

Drake startled because he was suddenly not sure that Hannibal did. He had thought that Hannibal must know how Drake felt from his actions but things today were so different and, now that he thought about it, it would only make sense that courting a lover was different too. 

"You should probably tell him then," Josie said, correctly interpreting his reaction. "Instead of moping around here and killing all the minions."

He narrowed his eyes. "Tell me that all of this was not simply to get me out of the mansion."

"There's ash _everywhere_!" She mock complained. "And the familiars are too scared to move let alone vacuum the place. Look at the state of my boots!"

Drake rolled his eyes, which caused her to snicker, but before he could say anything there was a knock on the door of the suite. 

Asher was standing on the other side of the door, putting on a bored air although Drake could sense that the vampire was actually a little on edge. He held out his small communication device to Drake.

"It's for you, my Lord," he told him before giving an exaggerated bow.

Drake raised an eyebrow at the display; that show of facetiousness would have angered him mere minutes earlier and Drake had to wonder if Asher was trying to antagonise him on purpose. He resolved to bring it up with Hannibal at some juncture. But for now, he simply took the device.

"Hey!" Said a familiar voice and Drake immediately relaxed.

"Hannibal..." he purred, a smile breaking out on his face to the apparent surprise of Asher before Drake shut the door in his face. "I was hoping to speak with you but I would prefer it if it was not on one of these _devices_."

Hannibal laughed. "Fair enough, granddad. But I can't exactly rock up to the Talos HQ and knock on the door now, can I?"

"You own them all," Drake pointed out. "If you say yes to me."

He ignored Josie exasperatedly shaking her head at him.

Hannibal hummed. "That's kind of the reason I'm calling. We should talk. Without me, you know, running away like a little bitch."

"We should," Drake agreed and, after a small pause, Hannibal gave an amused huff.

"Nice to know that you’re not going to argue with the 'little bitch' part. Anyway, I'm back at the hotel; same room and everything. I think the dude on the front desk thinks that I'm hustling because he warned me about taking work from the hookers on the ground floor...hmm, I should probably go and assure them that I'm not before they come after me or something..."

Drake smiled at Hannibal's rambling; his wolf certainly liked to talk. "I will be there shortly," he told him. "Try not to antagonise the prostitutes too much before I arrive."

"They're feisty!" Josie called out for Hannibal's benefit.

"How does she know that?" Drake could hear the frown in Hannibal's voice and chuckled before ending the call.

"Return this to Asher," he said to Josie, tossing her the device before pausing a moment. "And keep an eye on him. He is acting recklessly and my wolf specifically wanted me to keep him alive."

"Will do," Josie replied. "Go. Fix things with your boy."

Drake smirked at her. "Rest assured that he will be left with no doubt as to how I feel about him this time."

He jumped from the balcony with her laughter floating after him and was greeted with more laughter when he arrived at the run down hotel. Hannibal was surrounded by the prostitutes who he appeared to have effortlessly charmed already and who seemed to be feeding him. Drake merely leant against a wall and watched the scene until his wolf acknowledged his presence with a shrug.

"Forgot to eat today," he explained through a mouthful of noodles. "And these gorgeous ladies very kindly had some to spare."

"Your stomach was complaining loud enough to drive away our customers," one of the ladies chuckled. "It was self preservation, really."

"You didn't tell us that your man was so handsome, sugar," another commented as she studied Drake before addressing him directly. "Are you sure that you want this one? Jolene can take real good care of you."

At Hannibal's exaggerated noise of protest and the way that Jolene threw him a wink over her shoulder, Drake understood that she was jesting but gave an amused smirk at her audacity anyway.

"A kind offer," Drake told her. "But I would prefer to remain with my beloved."

Hannibal flushed suddenly and, at the whistles he received from the group, Drake realised that the term he had used had not been quite right or perhaps too old fashioned? He was not sure.

“And on that awkward note, we should get going,” Hannibal said, slurping down the last of the noodles. “Thank you, ladies. It was truly a pleasure to meet you all.”

“Don’t be a stranger, you hear,” an older woman with head full of artificial red curls told him, patting Hannibal’s arm.

Hannibal assured her that he would not be and placed the empty plastic container on the table just inside the room the women were using. Drake did not miss the money that Hannibal slid beneath the container, too fast for the women to notice until after they had left. 

“Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do,” Jolene called after them as they walked to the staircase and Hannibal chuckled, turning just enough to blow her a kiss.

His amusement faded as they both climbed the stairs and Drake could sense him becoming more and more tense. That would not do so as soon as they entered the room, Drake spun Hannibal and pushed him up against the closed door to kiss him breathless. Hannibal groaned low in his throat and eagerly kissed back, wrapping his arms around Drake to pull him closer. Drake grinned into the kiss and Hannibal grumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, you clearly rev my engine. No need to get all smug about it," he muttered against Drake's lips before moving his hands to push against Drake's chest and move him away. "But we came here to talk."

Drake considered the man before him for a moment before giving a quick shake of his head. "We shall talk later."

He quickly slid his hands to Hannibal's thighs and lifted, ignoring the squawk of protest and surprise, before carrying him across the small room. He dropped Hannibal onto the bed with a bounce and stared down at him as he began to remove his shirt, letting all the ardour he felt for this man show in his eyes.

"It has been brought to my attention," he said lowly, continuing to remove his clothes while Hannibal stared up at him a little dazed. "That you may not be fully aware of how I feel for you."

He kneeled on the bed and slowly crawled up over Hannibal's body. "I want you, Hannibal King."

"Clearly," Hannibal replied, finding his voice. "Okey dokey. Sex first...I don't know why I was protesting that in the first place."

He rushed to remove his own clothing but before he could do more than grab the bottom of the shirt, Drake simply tore the flimsy material from Hannibal's body.

"Hey! I need that when I le..." Hannibal's protest trailed off into a groan when Drake leaned down to lick at a nipple.

"I do not think that you understand," Drake murmured as he kissed and nibbled his way across the muscular chest to lap at the other nipple. "I want you in my bed and at my side, always." 

His nimble fingers continued to tease and pinch while his mouth traced a path up to Hannibal's neck, pausing to bite or suck a mark into the tanned skin here and there. He gave a moan of his own when Hannibal actually allowed him to nuzzle against his throat. He did not linger though, able to feel some tension already returning to the body beneath him, instead he placed an appreciative kiss against the thrumming vein and returned to his task of tasting every inch of his wolf. 

Hannibal's pants and undergarments soon joined the remnants of his t-shirt on the floor, although Hannibal had insisted that they remain whole as he had to walk home and he was not prepared to do so in the nude. Drake personally thought that would make a pretty sight but he acquiesced, mainly because he wanted that sight reserved for him alone. 

"I do not wish to wed you as an example," Drake told him as his tongue dipped in to taste the droplets of perspiration which had accumulated in his wolf's belly button and discovered a sensitive spot, judging from the way Hannibal shuddered below him. 

He continued his journey down, paying particular attention to the juncture of thigh and groin, a place which made his lover squirm deliciously, and deliberately ignoring Hannibal's cock. Instead, he sat up and flipped Hannibal so that he was face down in the rumpled sheets and began to caress that exquisite posterior while following the path of a couple of Hannibal's most ugly looking scars with his tongue as though he could replace the painful memories of how they were received with this moment instead.

He leaned down to bite one deliciously plump buttock firmly and then soothed the hurt with his tongue, smiling to himself as Hannibal groaned throatily. It appeared that his wolf liked a little bit of pain with his pleasure and Drake would be happy to oblige; he also would make sure to not cross the line. Hannibal had suffered enough agony in his short life and Drake would never add to that.

"You are not a replacement for Aditye." Drake continued to speak assurances into Hannibal's skin. "I want you for your own attributes."

"Nice...to be...appreciated," Hannibal gasped and Drake was pleased to know that he was still managing to pay attention to his words. "But...if you're going to fuck...me...can you please...just... _holy shit!_ "

Hannibal yelled that last part as Drake pulled his cheeks apart and licked a stripe between them. He gave a low appreciative rumble at the dark musky flavour that he found there and then set himself to slowly and thoroughly licking Hannibal open. He slid a hand between the other man and the mattress, keeping an iron tight grip on the base of his cock when he could feel Hannibal getting close; there would be none of that until Drake was inside him. 

"You evil son of a bitch!" Hannibal fought against the hold and frustratedly cursed his name with an increasing manner of colourful insults, in between groans and whines and the occasional yowl of pleasure. 

But Drake would not let go and by the time he deemed him ready, Hannibal was a quaking mess. Soaked in perspiration and moaning continuously with the sheets in tatters around him, thanks to the claws clenching them in a white knuckled grip. He was gorgeous.

Drake sat back on his haunches and pulled Hannibal up to sit in his lap. After Drake's ministrations he was able to push into Hannibal in one slow and steady thrust, growling lowly at the incomparable feeling of his wolf tightly surrounding him. Hannibal gasped and threw one arm back to clamp onto Drake, those claws digging into his skin and causing Drake's control to thin dangerously when the faint scent of blood mingled with the rest of the delicious scents they had created. 

"Fuck!" Hannibal grit out through clenched teeth and Drake could see that they had elongated slightly. "Don't stop! Fucking move, damnit!"

Drake grinned against Hannibal's sweat soaked hair and then proceeded to obey the command; pulling almost all of the way out and immediately thrusting back in hard enough to make his wolf cry out. He had already been over a century old when he met Aditye so, it went without saying, that he had had many lovers in his lifetime but not one of them could hold a candle to his wolf who met him thrust for thrust, head thrown back against Drake's shoulder, refusing to be still or passive. He was, in that moment, the most exquisite thing that Drake had ever seen. 

Drake could feel the pleasure build at the base of his spine and knew that he would not last much longer. But before that he needed to finish what he'd started. He used his free hand to grip Hannibal's jaw and turned his head to face him.

"Look at me," he growled and waited until Hannibal's dilated eyes blinked and focussed on him. "You are not a pawn. And you are not a replacement. I want us to be wed because I revere and cherish you, Hannibal King, and I would have you for my own."

With that, Drake loosed his iron grip around Hannibal while at the same time executing a very well aimed thrust. Hannibal shouted as he fell over the edge and the sensation of his body squeezing around him so tightly had Drake quickly following with a roar of his own.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	8. Chapter Eight - Hannibal

Hannibal wasn't sure how long it took him to come back to awareness but when he did he was on his side with Drake spooned behind him, his hands soothingly stroking over Hannibal's body and a leg thrown over his proprietarily. Sensing that Hannibal was awake, Drake nuzzled the back of his neck but otherwise stayed quiet, allowing Hannibal to regain some sense of equilibrium after what had literally been the best sex of his life. It had probably been the best sex of anyone's life. The best sex in the history of ever. 

He felt awesome; sort of floaty and in a bit of a daze. He'd never been worshipped in quite that way before. And that was the only word for it; worshipped. 

_Revered and cherished._

He rolled over, manfully trying to resist a wince as certain sore spots made themselves known but was unsuccessful, judging from the flash of concern on Drake’s face.

“S’okay, I’m not broken,” Hannibal assured him. “It’s good aches.”

Drake hummed and resumed stroking his hands over Hannibal but this time, he was clearly checking for injuries. Hannibal didn’t protest, he was pretty sure that would get him nowhere, instead he took the time to lazily study Drake. Hannibal had wondered more than once how he hadn’t simply gone insane from being stuck alone in that tomb for centuries but considering what he’d just said, maybe he had. Drake finished checking Hannibal, apparently satisfied that he wasn’t hiding an injury, caught Hannibal staring at him and raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Did you mean it?” Hannibal asked.

“Every word,” Drake told him.

Hannibal frowned. “Why?”

“Why?” Drake repeated with a frown. “How could I not?”

“But…” Hannibal started then stopped when Drake suddenly moved and rolled them until he was above Hannibal, holding his wrists to the mattress. 

“You would like me to pinpoint when I fell for you, Hannibal?” He asked. “Perhaps it was that very first day I observed you battling vampires when you should have been concealing yourself with the rest of your species. It may have been any of the times you have proved to be unafraid of me, unafraid of the demon within me. Or possibly it was the many occasions where I have witnessed you putting others first. It is doubtlessly a combination of these things alongside the many other qualities that make you so mesmerizing, my wolf.”

Hannibal stared up at him, his eyes wide as he tried to process all of that. He’d obviously been disappointed when he'd thought that this relationship was going to be just for show but this was a bit overwhelming. _Drake_ was overwhelming. Holy shit, be careful what you wish for.

Drake’s voice gentled and the grip on Hannibal’s wrists loosened. “I know that you do not believe me yet but I will have a long time to prove it to you. If you agree to marrying me.”

Right. Hannibal hadn’t actually got around to accepting yet, what with all the sex. He opened his mouth, intent on giving some kind of quip but he was still too stunned to come up with anything. Instead he just nodded.

“Yes.”

The smile that Drake gave was like watching the sun break through a cloudy sky and it made Hannibal’s stomach swoop in a very pleasant way. 

"There are some conditions though," Hannibal felt compelled to point out.

Drake nodded. "Of course. Josie has informed me of a document known as a prenuptial arrangement. We should have one of these in order to set your worries to rest."

"Agreement not arrangement," Hannibal corrected automatically, a little thrown that Drake had already looked into this. "That could work, I guess."

"Good," Drake said. "Then draw up your list of conditions and I shall arrange one of these agreements."

Hannibal eyed him. "Don't you want to know what's going to be on my list?"

"I cannot imagine there would be much that I disagree with," Drake told him with a small shrug. "I believe that our views on the futures of both the vampires and werewolves are very similar and you are more than welcome to my wealth and resources."

"Wealth? What...no, I don't want..." Hannibal stopped and shook his head. "Okay, deal with that later. What about what you want from me."

"I want you," Drake replied and chuckled when Hannibal rolled his eyes. "It is true. I want you beside me in all ways; love, industry, calmness and battle."

That feeling of being overwhelmed washed over him again and Hannibal had to take a moment to push it away.

"Speaking of battle," he said, not so subtly changing the subject as he sat up and pulled the sheet over him. "We might be able to help you with the vampires."

Obviously sensing that the conversation had turned serious, Drake sat up too. "You can get the hunters to stand beside me?"

"A few, maybe. Probably not enough," Hannibal conceded. "But we have a weapon. A biological one, specifically targeted for vamps."

Drake studied him for a moment. "Explain it to me."

"It's called Daystar," Hannibal told him. "The hunters have been working on it for years. The basic idea is that it gets released into the air and the wind currents, precipitation and all sorts of nifty weather effects, carry it to all corners of the globe. It's entirely harmless to humans and werewolves."

"But it harms vampires."

It wasn't a question but Hannibal nodded anyway. "It will. That's the plan."

"Will?" Drake frowned. "It is not ready yet?"

"Yeah, that's the thing." Hannibal sighed. "It's almost ready, we just need your blood to activate it. But we're not sure if it will harm you. Which wasn't a problem before, back when we thought Danica had raised Dracula to fuck us all up. But now..."

"Why is my blood needed?" Drake asked and Hannibal stared at him; he was remarkably calm considering he'd just discovered that the hunters had a weapon that could possibly hurt him.

"Umm..." Hannibal thought back for the explanation Caulder and Sommerfield had given them. "Because all vampires are descended from you. They've all got your blood in their bodies, even if it's been diluted it's there. So if we target that particular blood strain..."

"You kill every vampire with my blood in them," Drake finished. "Ingenious. And you say that it is ready apart from needing my blood?"

"Kind of." Hannibal rubbed the back his neck. "I mean, it was but now we're trying to figure out how to stop it hurting you or Josie. And when I say 'we', I'm not really including me in that sentence because I have no idea what the geeks are talking about half the time. What?"

Drake was grinning at him. "You asked these 'geeks' of yours to stop this weapon from hurting me and my childe."

"It wasn't just me," Hannibal felt the need to get out there. "Also, it's very creepy when you call Josie that. She's a grown ass woman."

"It is what she is and it is a title of great status," Drake informed him. 

Hannibal hummed and then gave Drake a cheeky smile. "Do I get a title of great status? I'm thinking Grand Poobah."

"What is a poobah?" Drake asked, tilting his head.

"I am so giving you a crash course in popular culture," Hannibal informed him. "I can't believe that Josie hasn't already started on that."

Drake gave a long suffering sigh. "She has tried."

Hannibal snorted as he imagined Josie trying to get Drake to listen to emo crap - just look at the way she dressed, she was bound to be into emo. "Well, now you've got the two of us. Lucky you."

"Lucky me," Drake agreed, stroking Hannibal's jaw before pulling him into a very nice kiss.

Feeling wrong footed again, Hannibal cleared his throat a little uncomfortably when Drake moved away. He'd never had anyone treat him this way before. Even before his fateful twenty-fifth year where his life turned into a living hell, Hannibal hadn't had the best track record when it came to dating. His Aunt Elizabeth had frequently told him that it had to do with him having such a smart mouth. She'd then grin, ruffle his hair and tell him not to brood because he'd grow out of it. 

"So anyway..." Hannibal drawled in an extremely unsubtle attempt to get back to hunter stuff and away from soppy stuff. 

Drake gave him a knowing look but acquiesced. "I would like to meet and speak to your 'geeks', particularly the other werewolf, Caulder."

"Caulder?" Hannibal shook his head. "Not a chance in hell. But the other two I could probably talk into it."

"You do not trust me with Caulder?" Drake asked, looking hurt. "If you cannot trust me with your wolves then how can this alliance work?"

If anyone had told Hannibal weeks ago that he'd be reassuring the Vampire King while naked in bed with him, he'd have had them locked up. But that's exactly what he found himself doing when he grabbed Drake's hand and tangled their fingers together. 

"Don't take it personally. Most of the other Nightstalkers have actually never met Caulder in person," he told him. "He lets very few people get close to him physically. Or emotionally, come to think of it."

"Lessons no doubt learned from this despicable war." Drake nodded in understanding. "I would still wish to speak to him, perhaps on the cell devices?"

"I guess he'd do that." Hannibal shrugged and then blinked when Drake kept looking at him expectantly. "What? Now?"

"Now."

Grumbling under his breath a little, Hannibal climbed out of bed to retrieve his cell from the pocket of his jeans before dialling Caulder's number by heart.

"Hey...umm...Drake wants to talk to you," he said when Caulder answered. "On the phone. Now."

There was a long pause and then Caulder replied, "Very well."

Releasing a breath he'd been holding, Hannibal sat on the edge of the bed, put the phone on speaker and placed it on the bed between him and Drake. "You can just talk, he'll hear you."

Drake looked at the phone suspiciously but did as Hannibal said. "You are the elder of Hannibal King's pack?"

"Yes," Caulder replied succinctly. 

"I wish to receive your permission to marry him."

"Wait. What?" Hannibal asked. "That's why you wanted to talk to him?"

Drake gave him a look. "It is how things are done."

"The pup has already been given my permission, did he not mention that?" Caulder said.

Hannibal crossed his arms and muttered. "Didn't really get much of a chance."

"I wish us to help facilitate a lasting peace between our people. " Caulder continued, ignoring Hannibal. "Know that if this is a trick or you harm Hannibal in any way, we will make you suffer in ways that you could only imagine. But, yes, you have my permission."

"Thank you and I promise you that I will never hurt Hannibal or conspire against the wolves in such a way," Drake replied before adding, "It is also tradition for the elder to be present at the vow taking but I understand that this will not be possible?"

There was another long pause before Caulder said, "I will send someone in my stead."

"It better not be Blade," Hannibal interjected; he did not want that asshole as a witness.

"It will not be the hybrid," Caulder replied, a little warmth entering his voice for the first time since the call had begun. 

Drake reached over, pulled one of Hannibal's arms free of their sulky position and placed a gentle kiss to the palm of his hand. He then turned his attention back to the phone call.

"I also wish to speak about this Daystar. As I understand it, if blood was taken from a certain individual in order to activate it, it would destroy that entire bloodline."

"Correct," Caulder said. "But we do not yet know what it will do to the originator, to you."

Drake nodded to himself. "What if I were not the originator used?"

"Clarify what you mean, please," Caulder said while Hannibal just stared at Drake curiously.

"As you have no doubt already concluded, I cannot allow the entire vampire race to be exterminated but I do have, what I believe to be, a satisfactory alternative," Drake said, his eyes never moving from Hannibal's. "There are six particular elders who have been getting fat on the misdeeds of vampires for far too long. These elders have been alive since before I was imprisoned and so, as you can imagine, have sired a lot of vampires in their time. They and their childer make up roughly three quarters of the vampires alive today."

Hannibal nodded as he understood Drake's plan.

"You want to kill these six elders and wipe out their bloodlines while you are at it?" Caulder asked and Drake made a hum of acknowledgement.

"I do and if there is a way for them themselves to remain alive enough to witness what their actions have wrought, I would very much like that to happen," Drake told him and Hannibal burst out laughing. 

"Wow! Having to watch all those vamps they created and everything they've built get wiped out? Remind me not to piss you off," he said and Drake grinned at him.

"If they are elders from your time, does that mean you sired them directly?" Caulder asked.

"To my lasting regret, yes," Drake replied.

"Then I think we might be able to oblige," Caulder said. "We have always theorised that your blood might be too strong for the Daystar virus to effect you and possibly your direct descendents."

Hannibal frowned. "I didn't know that."

"Because you daydream through the technical meetings, pup," Caulder told him, not unkindly. "Our thinking was that if we could wipe out the rest of the vampires then the entire network of hunters could join forces and take Dracula and the elders out by other means; a task obviously made easier by their greatly diminished numbers."

"It is a good plan," Drake said and Hannibal pointed at him.

"You need to stop complimenting our plans to kill you, it's freaky."

Drake chuckled. "I was a soldier. I appreciate a good strategy."

"Among other things." Hannibal winked at him and then counted to three in his head.

"Pup!" Caulder growled and Hannibal laughed. "When you are quite finished acting the fool, you need to bring me a sample of both Drake and his daughter's blood so that we can begin testing our hypothesis."

"Thank you, Caulder," Drake said. "Please do not hesitate to let me know if you need any other resources, I would happy to provide them."

"I shall," Caulder replied before ringing off.

"You two have a good relationship," Drake noted, approvingly.

"I guess," Hannibal said. "He was the reason I was rescued from Danica and, despite what he says, he put me back together."

It wasn't a subject that Hannibal liked to think about, let alone talk about. He had been in a bad way when he was brought to Caulder. Despite being liberated from Danica, he'd been so uncontrollable that he'd had to remain muzzled and bound until Caulder was able to get through to him. Until he was finally able to understand, to _believe_ , that he was actually free. 

Drake nodded in understanding of how much that must have entailed and squeezed one of Hannibal's hands before getting out of the bed. 

"As much as I hate to say this, we have much to do and need to leave this room," he said.

Hannibal chuckled and indicated the stained carpet, yellowing ceiling and peeling wallpaper. "I'm pretty sure that you're the first person who's ever said they've been sorry to leave this room."

Drake smiled as he began to get dressed. "I suggest you hurry unless you want Josie to see you naked. She is almost here."

"What?" Hannibal yelped and jumped to his feet to drag his boxers and jeans back on before she arrived. "Shit! I forgot that you wrecked my shirt. Well, this is going to put a new spin on the walk of shame!"

He dropped the shreds of material which used to be his favourite Scooby Doo t shirt in the trash can and tried to mentally figure out a less populated path back to Caulder's via rooftops and back alleys. 

"Wear this instead," Drake said and held out his ridiculous white silk shirt. "I will not be seen as I return to the mansion."

He had a point, Drake could run and jump faster than the human eye could see whereas Hannibal couldn't. Still though, that shirt just screamed 'vampire'. 

Hannibal took it from him, wrinkling his nose in distaste, when something suddenly occurred to him. "You want me to wear it so that I smell like you, don't you? You ruined my awesome t-shirt on purpose!"

Drake grinned unrepentantly. 

"You owe me a new shirt," Hannibal told him even as he pulled on the slippery material. "Jesus, all this needs is ruffles."

Drake watched him with heat in his eyes. "You can purchase as many new items as you wish; my riches are yours, husband."

Hannibal snorted. "We're not married yet, sugar daddy."

The heat in Drake's eyes burned brighter for a moment and Hannibal shook his head. "That had better be about the marriage part and not a kink. I _am not_ calling you 'daddy'."

"Aaaaand I apparently walked into the room at the exact wrong time," Josie said from the doorway.

"Which is why you should always knock," Hannibal told her. 

Josie took in Hannibal's appearance with a smirk but thankfully managed to refrain from saying anything otherwise Hannibal would be forced to remove and burn the monstrous shirt and he really did have to walk through the city. 

"So, why the summons, boss?" Josie asked Drake instead. 

"The hunters require samples of our blood," Drake told her. "They are creating a new weapon."

Josie scrunched her face up suspiciously. "That needs our blood to work."

"That needs your blood to stop it from working on you," Hannibal clarified.

"Oh! Well that sounds like a better outcome," she commented and playfully dropped into a fighting stance. "Okay, so how are you going to take it from me?"

Hannibal thought for a moment and then grinned. 

"Oh, I have a much better idea than that," he said as he grabbed his phone.

Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Did you know that there are _hookers_ downstairs," Hedges hissed, scandalised, when Hannibal opened the door. "And what the hell are you wear...eep!"

Drake raised an eyebrow. "Did he just say 'eep'?"

"Hannibal?" Hedges ducked behind him as if to hide from the two vampires currently occupying the room.

"Don't worry, Hedges. They're not going to eat you or anything..."

"Speak for yourself," Josie said, eying Hedges in such a lewd manner that even Hannibal flushed a little.

"...They're not going to drain you," Hannibal amended. "Caulder needs a sample of their blood and you're the most qualified to draw it."

"You want me to stick needles in them?" Hedges squeaked. 

"We are doing this willingly and you are in no danger from us," Drake assured him.

Hedges looked at Hannibal. "This isn't a trick is it? Because I wouldn't let you keep that gun? I swear that it really is too sensitive and needs to be recalibrated..."

"Hedges," Hannibal interrupted the babbling. "Do you really think that I would do that to you? Do you think that I would let them near you if I thought there was a chance that they'd hurt you?"

Hedges stared at him for a moment and then sighed. "No, you wouldn't."

Hannibal smirked, satisfied. "Right. And just think what a badass story you'll have when you're done."

A sly smile slowly appeared on Hedges face as he thought about that. "Oh yeah, no more ridiculing the nerd. I took blood from Dracula, himself."

He then jumped about a foot in the air as 'Dracula, himself' cleared his throat. 

"Right...okay..." Hedges mumbled as he dug through his bag for the needles he needed and then pulled on a pair of rubber gloves. "Umm...arm out, please."

Hannibal felt almost proud as he watched Hedges efficiently draw blood from Drake with only a slight tremor to his hands. 

"Thank you, James," Drake said, when he'd finished and Hedges startled so badly that he almost dropped the vials he'd collected.

Hannibal was surprised too, he hadn't known Hedges' first name. He didn't think any of the hunters did, apart from maybe Dex. Weird, he didn't seem like a 'James'.

"My turn," Josie said and held out her arm to Hedges. 

Thankfully, she'd dialled back the femme fatale act and was now behaving more like herself; gently flirting with Hedges instead of threatening to eat him alive. Hannibal wasn't sure why she had such a crush on Hedges but her genuine affection for him was clear to see. That affection, that Josie had for Hedges and Drake had for Hannibal, was yet another thing that set them both apart from the rest of the vamps who prided power above all else. 

Finally Hedges stepped back, blushing but with a smile playing about his lips. "Okay, I think that I'm done."

Hannibal nodded and turned to Drake. "I'm not going to be around tomorrow, prior plans and all that. But I'll update you on the blood results after that."

Drake looked as though he wanted to protest the fact that Hannibal wouldn't be around the next day but nodded his acceptance and Hannibal felt like a jackass. He should just explain that it was going to be a full moon but he had a feeling that Drake would ask to be with him and Hannibal wasn't ready for that yet. After the past couple of weeks, he had a feeling that it would be a bad night and he didn't want anyone but Caulder to witness him like that.

Fidgeting in place, Hannibal wondered what the protocol for saying goodbye was; they were technically engaged but they had an audience and he wasn't sure if Drake was comfortable with PDAs. He wasn't sure if _he_ was comfortable with PDAs, he'd never been in a relationship long enough to find out. He mentally shrugged, figured Drake could stop him if he wanted to, walked to the other man and pulled him into another spectacular kiss. He vaguely heard Hedges 'eep' again but was too busy backing Drake against the wall to pay much attention to it. 

Drake really seemed to like Hannibal taking charge and he filed that information away because that was definitely something which had to be explored at a later date. Gentling the kiss, Hannibal pulled back and smirked at the small noise of disappointment Drake gave. 

He recovered quickly though and cupped Hannibal's jaw. "I shall see you in two days, my wolf. Stay safe."

With that, Hannibal and Hedges left. Obviously, he had to put up with some good natured heckling from the peanut gallery on the ground floor - he and Drake had been very loud, after all - but soon, Hannibal and Hedges were out on the street. 

"We should probably take the blood to Sommerfield," Hedges said. "Caulder's not going to get any work done on it tonight and you know that Sommerfield never sleeps."

Hannibal nodded, unsurprised that Hedges had remembered it was the full moon. Because of Hannibal and Caulder, the hunters had all learned to pay attention to when they were; not just to know that the two wolves would be out of commission that night but also just in case they ran into another wolf while out on a hunt.

"You're probably right," Hannibal told him. "Lets head to the Hideout instead and I'll deal with Caulder later. I need to talk to Abby anyway."

Surprisingly, Hedges lasted until they'd walked one whole block before blurting out, "So, Blade was right? You really are fucking Dracula?"

"I wasn't then. I am now," Hannibal replied. 

"But he's Dracula, Dracul, Drac, HVIC, Head Vamp in Charge," Hedges persisted. "He's really, really old."

Hannibal couldn't help but burst out laughing. He'd been tensing up in anticipation of questions about how he could willingly have sex with a vamp after all they'd done to him; he should've known that the ever guileless Hedges wouldn't let him down.

"Just means that he's picked up a few tricks." Hannibal winked at him and Hedges blushed, looking like he needed brain bleach - an expression that Hannibal liked to evoke at least once a week.

Nonetheless, the rest of the journey back to the Honeycomb Hideout was peppered with questions about sleeping with Drake in a thinly veiled attempt for Hedges to figure out what he should do about Josie's interest. When they got to the ship, all the Nightstalkers were gathered in Sommerfield's lab. Caulder had apparently called a meeting and was communicating with them via a video link, as always. And judging by the caterwauling, he'd just told them that Drake had been informed about Daystar.

Hannibal and Hedges shared an uneasy look, before quietly making their way into the lab. Hannibal expected Hedges to scuttle off to hide behind his desk but he instead leaned against the back wall beside Hannibal. Apparently, their little excursion had earned him Hedges' solidarity for some reason. That or he didn't want to be standing alone if Blade got pissed off. Probably the latter. 

"...in our back pocket!" Abby was yelling. "Do you really think that they're just going to let us have a weapon against them that powerful? You've just signed our death warrant!"

"I don't believe that I have," Caulder replied with the air of having been through this many times already. 

Hannibal wondered if he'd just had to repeat himself to the Nightstalkers that many times or if he'd already been through this with the other cells.

"Oh, right! Because Drake 'gave you his word'!" Abby even made air quotes. "Here's a newsflash, vampires can't be trusted."

"This one can," Caulder replied.

"Just because he says so?" Dex asked, not quite as apoplectic as Abby but clearly pissed off.

"He _has_ protected and helped us against the rest of the vampires," the ever sensible Sommerfield pointed out.

Caulder nodded. "Also, he is voluntarily binding himself to the werewolves and, by extension, the hunters."

Dex frowned. "Binding? What the fuck does that mean?"

"He is choosing to marry a werewolf in order to cement our alliance," Caulder told them.

Hannibal appreciated his not actually mentioning that Hannibal was that werewolf but he didn't think that would stay quiet for long. A fact proven mere moments later when Blade snorted in amusement, staring right at Hannibal.

"A 'partnership', right? I knew that sounded fucking hinky, King."

The rest of the group whirled around, finally realising that Hannibal and Hedges were there.

"Where the fuck have you two been?" Abby shouted while at the same time Dex said,

"What's he talking about, Hannibal?"

Hedges shrank back against the wall as if he could disappear into it and away from Abby's fury but Hannibal put a hand on his shoulder.

"We've been out getting some gifts. Right, Hedges?"

Hedges just looked at him until Hannibal nodded towards his bag. 

"Oh! Right!" He opened it and pulled out the vials. "We've got Drake's blood. Josie's too."

Abby narrowed her eyes. "How did you get that?"

"Umm... from their arms?" Hedges squeaked.

"I know I was supposed to bring it to you, elder," Hannibal told Caulder. "But as Hedges pointed out, we're a little busy tonight and Sommerfield is a whizz."

"I am very good," Sommerfield agreed. "And speedy."

Caulder looked disgruntled but nodded. He was probably just annoyed that Hannibal had disobeyed a direct order and not that Sommerfield was going to run the tests instead.

"You still haven't answered my question, King," Dex pointed out and Hannibal nodded. 

"And that would be because I'm avoiding having to. So...how is everyone? Have I missed any good gossip over the past day?"

"King..." Dex wasn't a wolf but he could give an impressive growl when he wanted to.

Hannibal sighed and shut his eyes for a moment. "Drake's marrying me."

He was pretty much expecting the right hook, Abby had always been hot tempered. 

Hedges yelped when Hannibal fell back against the wall; he was probably wishing that he'd run to his desk, after all. "What are you doing, Whistler?"

"What the hell, Hannibal?" Abby's voice was dangerously quiet in the sudden silence that had fallen over the room. "After everything we've fought for? Everyone we've lost? You're siding with them?"

"I'm not siding with them," Hannibal said, rubbing his jaw; she was strong for a human. "I'm siding with us, where I've always been."

"Yeah? Is that why you're suddenly dressing like them? Where did you pick that shirt up, Tommy Hilfanger?"

Hannibal snorted because that was pretty good.

"Is this a joke to you?" she spat. "It's not funny, King."

"Of course it fucking is!" Hannibal told her. "You're pissed now because you've got a renowned temper. But as soon as you calm down, you'll realise that you're spouting bullshit of the highest order. Because you, of all people, know what those fuckers did to me; you've seen the scars and you've heard the nightmares. Do you really think that I would agree to this unless I truly believed that it would make things better for all of us?"

Abby stared at him for a long moment and then sighed, all the fight going out of her. "No. You wouldn't."

"Jesus, you don't have to do this, Hannibal. Not for us," Sommerfield put in, looking very concerned; which warmed his heart a little. 

"Yes, I do," he told her. "Besides, it's not like I won't get some benefits. The sex is _awesome_. I mean, seriously. Hot, dirty, mind blowing, cock gratifying..."

Sommerfield laughed. "Alright, we get the idea, hot stuff."

Hannibal chuckled and then got back to the subject in hand. "Look, if you still don't believe we should do it, just ask him."

He pointed at Blade who had a pinched look on his face like he'd just smelled something bad. 

"Who's 'we'?" he asked. "Motherfucker, I ain't fucking anyone!"

Hannibal rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know that, Captain Personality. I meant that we should ally with Drake."

After taking the time to have a stare down with everyone, which was apparently meant to make sure they all knew that Blade didn't bend over for anyone, he nodded.

"Drake's our best option," he said. "He seems to hate the suckheads even more than we do."

"Well, they did kill his first love and then imprison him in a tomb for millennia while starting a war against his strongest allies and friends," Hannibal pointed out.

Everyone immediately turned to look at him. 

"What are you talking about?" Dex asked.

Oh, right. He hadn't been back to the hideout since that particular conversation and apparently Caulder hadn't relayed it yet.

"Umm...just to play devil's advocate for a minute," Hedges interrupted, looking thoughtful. "If we have Drake's blood, why can't we just go with plan A; wipe all the vamps out and then go after Drake?"

"Because plan A was always a long shot," Caulder replied and they all startled, realising that he was still there watching this unfold. "We've always been pretty sure that Daystar won't work on Drake and I think that I can predict that Sommerfield's test results will show that Josie will be unaffected too, as she was directly sired by Drake."

Sommerfield nodded her agreement. 

"So then we have to think about what will happen when Daystar is released," Caulder continued. "The chances are that Drake will go underground. How many vampires do you think that he can sire before we find him? Vampires that will be immune to Daystar and who are faster, stronger and more motivated than the vampires we deal with now. At least if we accept Drake's proposal to become allies, we wipe out seventy five percent of the current vampires and put an end to the war that has decimated my people."

"Okay," Hedges said into the quiet everyone had fallen into. "Just wondering."

"Back to the 'imprisoned in a tomb' thing..." Dex raised an eyebrow at Hannibal.

"I will take my leave while you explain everything," Caulder interjected. "I will see you later, pup."

The screen went black as Caulder signed off and Hannibal clapped his hands together.

"Is everyone ready for story time? Gather what you need; blankies, hot cocoa and teddy bears because this one's a doozy, " he said. "Once upon a time, a baby vampire and a baby werewolf were total bffs..."


	9. Chapter Nine - Drake

Drake was in, what Josie referred to as, his brooding spot; staring out of the floor to ceiling window towards the city as he fought the urge to track down his wolf. It had become apparent just why his wolf had decided to spend the night apart as soon as the moon began to rise. A full moon. Part of Drake ached to see Hannibal completely shifted but he would respect his wishes. It didn’t stop the feeling of apprehension within him, however.

"Making wedding plans?" Josie asked, appearing behind him. "Seeing as he said 'yes', after all."

Drake could not help but smile at the memory. "With conditions."

Josie snorted. "Of course he has conditions. What are they?"

"He has yet to tell me," Drake told her. "But I imagine that I will know soon enough."

She came and stood beside him. "If I were him, they would start with not having to live here."

Drake nodded, his thoughts had wandered along similar lines. "Look into procuring the hotel."

Her eyebrows flew up in surprise. "That dump? Really?"

"It has sentimental worth," Drake said. "We shall renovate it as in those shows you love so much."

"Hah!" Josie pointed at him. "I knew that you were secretly watching them with me and not meditating. What vampire meditates?"

He shook his head. "It is a waking sleep; it rejuvenates me. And I could not fail to overhear; you play that infernal machine far too loudly for someone with superior hearing."

She just smirked. "Alright, shithole hotel it is. What about the working girls? Are you going to turf them out?"

"Of course not," he replied; he had enjoyed conversing with the lively women and already had an idea on how to bring them into the fold. 

Josie nodded her approval. "Okay, now that's sorted. Why are you sulking over here? You've got your man, you've set your big revenge plan of doom into action; you should be happy."

Drake sighed. "I do not know. I feel troubled as though there is something bad headed our way. Can you not feel it? Something is not right and I cannot identify what it is."

"Perhaps it's just nerves?" Josie hedged. "To say that your last engagement ended badly would be understating it a tiny bit."

"Perhaps you are correct," Drake said after a long moment. "I know that Hannibal is a very strong warrior yet I cannot help but want to protect him."

"Because you looooove him," Josie sang and laughed as she jumped back out of his reach. "You should find something to do to distract you until tomorrow. Want to go on a hunt later?"

"I would enjoy that." Drake chuckled at her enthusiasm. 

They had discovered that the best time of night to hunt rogue vampires was a couple of hours before dawn when the vampires left their night clubs with their unsuspecting human quarry. Josie liked to toy with those particular vampires and Drake liked to indulge her.

The night club belonging to the Talos clan was one of the most popular in the city and the place he and Josie most enjoyed stalking their prey from. That brought the male Talos to mind; he had been too occupied to ask Hannibal about him earlier but was still curious about his recent behaviour.

"Tell me, have you learned anything from your observations of Asher?" Drake asked.

"Not much, I'm afraid," Josie replied. "A few of the clan have mentioned a change in his behaviour since you killed Jarko Grimwood but, I have to admit that I didn't pay enough attention to him before to notice it myself."

Drake frowned. He could put the behaviour down to belligerence for killing a favoured clan member but Hannibal had called Jarko evil while he liked Asher. It did not seem likely that the two would be close friends and yet be able to create such disparate responses in another. Besides which, he remembered Asher's disdainful attitude around the late vampire.

It was a puzzle to be solved and would keep Drake occupied until he and Josie left on their hunt. He mentally summoned Asher to come to him. Taking a seat on the sofa, Drake settled in to wait. Ten minutes later, Asher still had not arrived despite the fact that Drake could sense him in the building. He frowned and sent another call even though Asher should not have been able to resist the first one. 

Puzzled, Drake decided to investigate. He fixed his senses on the vampire and left the suite, heading down through the mansion towards where Asher was. The building seemed quiet and again that feeling of 'not right' washed over him. Nothing seemed untoward though, in fact the vampires he passed had that relaxed look that always came over them when Danica had left the building; which in itself explained the quiet. That woman's grating voice carried far.

Drake's walk took him to one of those metal doors that the young ones believed would keep him out. With a shake of his head, he punched right through the thick metal and pulled the door open. There was another set of stairs leading down and this part of the mansion was obviously disused. The paint was peeling from the walls and the lights flickered from lack of maintenance. At the bottom of the steps was a thin corridor with more metal doors lining each side. The scent of fear and despair had seeped into the very walls and Drake knew that this was where prisoners were kept and tortured even before he picked up the faintest trace of Hannibal there. He growled in fury and strode passed the empty rooms - cells - until he reached the one at the end. That one he tore open as if it was paper, and then came to a complete halt as he witnessed what was inside.

Asher stood, naked, in the centre of the room. He was gagged and there were thin chains wrapped around his body; silver chains, judging by the welts beneath them. He stood in a small circle of shadow, small enough that he couldn't move because outside of the circle, the room was bathed in the same purple UV light that the hunters employed in their weapons. Drake did not know how long Asher had been like that but there were already numerous burns on his body from where he must have struggled against the chains or swayed from tiredness and moved slightly outside of the shadow circle into the light. 

There was an electronic device on the wall and Drake smashed it with his fist, producing a shower of sparks but also knocking out the purple light. Asher immediately slumped and Drake rushed forward to catch him before he hit the ground. He hissed slightly as the chains irritated his skin but he pulled them free and threw them away before unbuckling the gag around Asher's mouth.

"Who did this?" Drake demanded.

Asher's mouth moved but no sound emerged as if he wanted to answer but something was stopping him. The sire's command. Instantly Drake knew who had done this but he asked again, this time putting his own order into it, strong enough to break any previous command given to Asher, sire or not.

"D...Danica..." Asher coughed, shuddering in Drake's arms. "She's gone...after King. You have to stop...her."

"She can't," Drake replied in shock. "I have commanded this house, her included, to leave the Nightstalkers alone. She cannot break that order."

Asher shook his head. "It's the full moon. He...he's a wolf right now and tech...technically not the same...person you ordered not to be...hurt...She found...loophole."

There was the sound of footsteps running down the corridor as Josie answered the summons he had sent as soon as he had found Asher.

"What the ever-loving fuck?!" She exclaimed as she took in the sight of Asher's tortured body.

"Take him to our suite," Drake ordered her, carefully handing Asher to her. "Then collect the Nightstalkers and bring them to me."

Josie slung Asher’s arm over her shoulder and held him up beside her. “Where will you be?”

“Wherever Hannibal is,” Drake told her and then run up and out of the building, trusting Josie to follow his orders. 

It had always been easy for Drake to find Hannibal but since their lovemaking, his unique scent and heartbeat was seared onto Drake’s senses. He barely had to concentrate to find him, just sprint towards where his perception told him Hannibal was.

He ran through the city and out the other side, finally arriving at an abandoned mining facility several miles outside Esperanto. He no longer needed to concentrate on his connection to Hannibal because he could hear the faint sounds of fighting coming up through the earth. The sudden yelp of an animal in pain made Drake put on an extra burst of speed, running into the mouth of the mine, At any other time, Drake would have been impressed at the ingenuity of choosing to spend their shifts in such a construction (certainly Drake would never have guessed to look underground which meant that someone had told Danica where to find them), tonight though he cursed the never-ending corridors and staircases that he had to traverse in order to reach his wolf. It didn’t help that the noises of distress were growing in frequency.

At last, Drake burst onto a platform which overlooked a large open space. He could see two wolves in the centre of the clearing; one grey and one honey coloured. The wolves were surrounded by a large crowd of vampires, including Danica. There was tell tale dust floating on the air which told Drake that there had been a lot more vampires here earlier in the night and that Hannibal and Caulder had put up a good fight, but both wolves were clearly injured and the scent of their blood was slowly filling the cavern. 

“Just give up, lover,” Danica taunted the honey coloured wolf that was clearly Hannibal even if Drake couldn’t tell that from the scent. “Give up, assume the position and I might just let your buddy go.”

Caulder growled as fiercely as he could for a wolf that had a steadily bleeding wound along his side although it was clearly struggle to keep his feet. Drake frowned; why weren’t they healing? He silently stepped closer to the railing to get a better view and that was when he saw a circle drawn in the ground, between the wolves and the vampires. It was made of out of some kind of purple liquid that had been poured in a continuous line around the wolves. It was clearly a potion of some kind which was affecting the wolves healing abilities and that kept them locked inside that circle. 

“Lets kill them already,” one of the vampires shouted and Danica hissed at him.

“That’s not the deal.”

“Neither was losing half of our number,” another vampire told her, flicking her long hair over one shoulder. “You said that it would be one wolf and that it would be an easy takedown. Any deal went flying out the window when they killed Giovanni.”

Drake looked at the vampires; they were clearly not part of the Talos clan, which was why the mansion had not emptied the way it had last time Danica decided to go after Hannibal. She had apparently contacted another clan to help her and he was pretty sure he knew what her side of this ‘deal’ was. Providing access to him. 

Josie silently dropped down beside him, fury practically radiating from her as she also took in the scene below. Drake was able to pick up from her thoughts that the Nightstalkers were behind her, a bit slower as they had to operate the disused elevator to come so far below ground. He thought quickly, he and Josie would have to press their advantage of surprise before the vampires were able to pick up on the noise from the Nightstalkers descent. It was time to put Josie’s training to the test.

He nodded at her and she inaudibly ran the length of the platform before launching herself off the edge. At the same time, Drake dropped down to land behind the vampire directly below him. He pulled the vampire to him and had drained him before the others even noticed he was there. 

“Who the fuck is this guy?” one of the group asked, levelling a weapon that he recognised as belonging to the hunters at him as he stepped forward.

The vampire then screamed as a hand punched through her chest from behind. Josie had spun away before the vampire had even turned to dust and grabbed Danica, gripping her by the throat and pulling her against Josie’s front.

“Why don’t you tell them, bitch?” Josie hissed.

Danica frantically scratched at the hand holding her but Josie was immovable.

“She seems unwilling to talk, childe,” Drake commented. “Perhaps I should just show them.”

He then finally lifted the mental shield he had projected over himself since awaking, in order to hide his presence from other clans. 

“Fuck!” One of them cursed and within seconds they were all running for the exit.

A loud metallic screeching heralded the arrival of the Nightstalkers who immediately began shooting at the vampires heading in their direction. While they were distracted, Drake moved towards the werewolves. He wrinkled his nose when he reached the liquid on the floor, aconite; he should have known. Wolfsbane could not actually kill a werewolf but it’s presence could leech their strength and hamper their abilities. Drake crossed into the circle and immediately reached for Hannibal so that he could carry him to relative safety or, at least, get him away from the aconite. Hannibal backed away with a snap of his teeth, then he indicated Caulder with his head. His wolf wanted him to save his mentor first.

By this time Caulder had dropped to the ground, the blood loss getting to be too much for him. He barely reacted when Drake easily picked him up and sprinted to the other side of the clearing, far enough away that his healing should activate soon enough. Hannibal’s friend, Hedges, ran to join them, a gun in his shaking hands and carrying a large backpack.

“Wolf first aid kit,” Hedges told him as he removed the bag and began to rifle through it. “Hannibal made it for us, just in case.”

Drake gave him a nod but when he turned back towards Hannibal he discovered that three of the vampires had entered the circle and were surrounding the wolf, weapons pointed at him.

“I’m not going through all this only for you to get away scott free, wolf,” one of them hissed. “We came here to kill you and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

Even with his enhanced speed, Drake was unable to reach the group quickly enough to prevent the vampire from thrusting his sword deep into Hannibal’s torso. The pain filled howl that Hannibal let out was only matched by the roar of pure anger that Drake gave. Between one second and the next he let his control slip and allowed the demon within him to the fore. He grabbed hold of the offending vampire and opened his maw, allowing his tongues to lap over the vampire’s head. The vampire shrieked in pure terror, shrieks which were swiftly cut off when Drake let his jaw snap shut on his head, which gave way with a sickening crunch. The other two tried to run but the demon was too quick; one was cleaved in two while the other probably only wished that his death was so quick.

There had been a great many fairytales recounting Drake’s decision to ‘sleep’ and just as many differing reasons for why. Drake remembered one in particular which stated that Aditye’s betrayal angered him so much that he slept for fear that he would destroy the world if he did not. It had greatly amused him at the time, so much so that he had narrated the passage to Josie for her enjoyment. It did not seem funny anymore. Things became a blur of bone snapping, flesh ripping and blood drenched retribution as Drake tore through these worthless creatures who had hurt his wolf. They had caused history to repeat itself and he knew that he really would burn the down the world if they succeeded in taking Hannibal from him.

“Boss? Boss, they’re all dead. You can stop n…”

Drake had his clawed hand around Josie’s throat before she even finished talking and roared in her face.

There was fear coming off her but she held her ground and the hand she placed over his was clearly intended to sooth and not fight. 

“Hannibal’s hurt. He needs you,” she said and those words brought a measure of awareness back to Drake.

His eyes immediately sought out his love, finding him laying beside Hedges and Caulder while the other wolf softly whined and nudged at him with his head. But Hannibal was not moving.

He let go of Josie immediately and changed back to his human form even as he sprinted across the clearing. 

If Josie gave off a decent amount of fear, it was washing off Hedges in waves but the man didn’t cower away from Drake the way he clearly wanted to. Instead he concentrated on Hannibal, gently rubbing some kind of cream into the wound.

“It’s not healing,” he told Drake. “I don’t know why; Caulder began to heal before I even put the balm on him. Maybe the sword was laced with something....”

Drake dropped to his knees besides Hannibal who lolled his head to one side in order to look up at him. 

“You are not allowed to die, Hannibal King,” Drake told him, his throat rasping from all the roaring he had done while in his other form. “I will not let you leave me alone in this world.”

The wolf made a huffing noise and the sight of acceptance in those painfully familiar eyes, made Drake’s heart break because Hannibal was clearly resigned to his fate.

He leaned forward and buried his face in the blood matted fur around Hannibal’s throat. 

“I fear that I will not survive losing you too,” he confessed and Hannibal whined.

Drake could feel the Nightstalkers and Josie watching but could not bring himself to lift his face from Hannibal’s fur until he felt Caulder nudging at his arm. As soon as Drake looked at him he threw his head back and howled long and loud as though he were howling at the moon.

“The moon…” Drake murmured, looking at Hannibal and then back at Caulder. “Will it work?”

Caulder howled again and Drake took that as a yes. As gently as he could manage, he gathered Hannibal to him and climbed to his feet. Hannibal whimpered at the pain that caused and Drake pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“I am sorry,” he said. “I will try to be as careful as possible but this will hurt, my wolf. Just try to hold on until we are outside.”

Hannibal rubbed his face against Drake’s chest and then Drake began to race back out of the mine the same way he came in, tapping into all of his speed to sprint down the passageways and up platforms. Hannibal was clearly unable to hold in his yelps and whines when certain movements jostled his injuries and by the time they finally burst out into the night air he was barely conscious.

Drake carefully placed him on the ground where he was bathed in the moonlight and lightly stroked his hands over him. 

“Wake up, my love,” he said, quietly. “Come back to me.”

But nothing happened, if anything, Hannibal seemed to get worse and his breathing slowed until he was barely taking any breaths at all. Despair and desolation crashed over Drake and he roared his sorrow to the stars, before drawing Hannibal’s body into his lap to hold him close.

Then, so slowly as to be nearly imperceptible, his heart rate started to get stronger and the edges of Hannibal’s wound began to knit together. Drake gave a single sob of relief and continued to clasp the wolf to him as he gradually began to heal in the full moon’s glow. 

By the time the rest of the group joined them, Hannibal was beginning to wake and his bleeding had completely halted. Josie squeezed Drake’s shoulder and then turned back to her captive. Drake had been aware that Danica was still alive but had purposely refused to look at her for fear that his anger would make the demon re-emerge to kill her; she deserved a far slower death.

“Take her back to the mansion and throw her in a cell,” Drake told Josie, still unable to look at the harpy. “We shall deal with her later.”

Drake could hear Danica’s muffled protest as they moved away which meant that Josie had silenced her somehow. Once they had left, Drake looked up at the Nightstalkers who were gathered around him.

“You love him,” Abigail said.

“I do,” Drake agreed and gave a small smile down at his lap where Hannibal was instinctively burrowing closer to Drake’s body.

She nodded. “Hurt him and we'll find a way to kill you.”

“Caulder has already made that fact abundantly clear,” Drake told her and Caulder huffed even as he edged closer to Hannibal.

Drake let go of his grip on the wolf in his lap in order to allow Caulder access to make sure for himself that Hannibal was healing.

“Someone within your organisation has betrayed you,” Drake told the Nightstalkers, now able to think clearly and turn his thoughts back to this attack.

Dex nodded. “Those were our weapons they were using.”

“And someone told them where Hannibal was going to be tonight,” Hedges added.

Blade snarled. “How many people knew that?”

“Not many,” Abigail said.

“That should make finding them easy,” Dex pointed out.

“You clean your house and I shall clean my own,” Drake told them. “This way we can begin our alliance justly. I assume that you agree to the alliance?”

Abigail studied Drake and the way he was caring for Hannibal and nodded. “Yes, we’re in.”

“Then we should relocate for the rest of the night,” Drake told them. “We do not know to how many vampires Danica gave knowledge of this location.”

Which was how Drake spent the rest of the night in an abandoned warehouse, wrapped around his recovering wolf, while a second wolf restlessly paced the floor.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	10. Chapter Ten - Hannibal

Hannibal and Drake were married in the courthouse the next day with Josie and Caulder (who was very on edge at being outside his lab but also a little unwilling to leave Hannibal's side after that close call) as witnesses. Hedges had also insisted on being there which made Hannibal smile because they really had built themselves a little friendship lately. 

He had been a bit worried that the fact Drake was a centuries old myth would mean that the court house would refuse to perform the wedding but, apparently, Drake had actually had some of the minions create a legal persona for him; complete with drivers licence and passport. Hannibal was ninety nine percent sure that Josie was behind Drake's surname apparently being Alucard. He was definitely keeping his own name. Although he guessed that he wouldn't be opposed to the double-barrelled thing.

Just before the ceremony, Josie took a phone call; the result of which was her acting very amused while Drake just looked smug. Hannibal was sure that didn't bode well for him but then they were being called into the small room with the registrar and before he knew it he was taking Drake to be his lawfully wedded husband. When Josie magicked up a pair of rings, Hannibal blinked at Drake in surprise; where the hell had he got those from at such short notice? And instead of the large, ostentatious diamond encrusted monstrosities that he'd been expecting from the king of all vampires, they exchanged simple platinum bands that fit perfectly and felt surprisingly comfortable when Drake slid it onto his finger.

After the I do's and the kiss which was perfectly acceptable and not at all excessive, no matter what Caulder had muttered, the small group left the building out onto the busy street and just watched the people teeming past on their way to places. Hannibal squinted against the sunlight, blinding after being inside for so long, and thought that this should feel more momentous. They had just sealed an accord and put an end to a centuries long war between two supernatural species; life shouldn't be just carrying on as if nothing had changed. 

"So...where are you taking me on our honeymoon, cupcake?" Hannibal smirked at Drake and tried to lighten the mood.

Josie coughed something that sounded suspiciously like 'shithole' before Drake glared her into shutting up.

"No honeymoon. But I do have something that I wish to surprise you with," Drake told him and then glared at Josie some more when she unsuccessfully tried to smother a laugh.

Hannibal looked at Drake suspiciously. "Did you pick the surprise? Because I'm starting to get the feeling that you picked it and it's something that you think is romantic because you know, you're a half demon vampire king who is definitely not hip to the modern jive but that would send any normal person running in the opposite direction. Am I warm?"

Josie didn't even try to smother her laugh this time, instead she patted Hannibal on the shoulder in what he perceived to be a sympathetic manner. 

"And I am going to choose this as an opportune moment to take my leave," Caulder said as Hannibal gave Drake a wary look. "I have a spy to deal with."

While Drake had spent the rest of the night with Hannibal, Josie had interrogated Danica. The bitch had eventually given up her source; a couple of the hunters in Caulder's cell had turned on them, apparently unhappy at having to work for a werewolf, they wanted to get rid of both Caulder and Hannibal. The speciesist pieces of shit actually thought that one of them could take over control of the hunters with Caulder gone. 

If Hannibal had thought that Caulder was paranoid before, Hannibal was sure that thing s were going to get much worse until his mentor could prove there were no other spies within the hunter cells.

"Try looking into Sebastian," Hannibal told him, in an attempt to lighten Caulder's mood a little. "That guy seriously hates me; he probably wants me very dead."

"Probably," Caulder agreed. "But he and I have been friends for a long time. He wouldn't risk me in order to kill you."

"Yeah, yeah; you're Mr Popular Wolf. I get it," Hannibal grumbled and Caulder affectionately smacked him upside the head before disappearing into the crowd with Hedges trailing behind him, waving back at a pleased looking Josie. 

The remaining three strolled through the city among all the crowds. It appeared that Drake had a bit of a thing for doing that which Hannibal figured was pretty understandable considering he'd spent literally hundreds of years completely alone in a tiny enclosed space. It was a small thing to indulge him in but definitely a worthwhile one. Besides it delayed the part that Hannibal had been dreading ever since he'd decided to accept Drake's proposal.

Delays couldn't last forever though and all too soon, Hannibal found himself standing outside the Talos mansion. He hadn't been back there since his rescue. He actually hadn't come closer than a few blocks away from the building; purposefully planning his hunts in other parts of Esperanto. He stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the monstrosity of metal and glass that was to be his new home and couldn't stop a shudder from running down his spine.

"I never thought that I'd ever come back here. Not voluntarily, anyway," he murmured, almost to himself.

Drake took hold of his hand. "Do not forget that you own them now. The entire clan is yours to do with as you wish and if you wish to burn this all to the ground, so be it."

"I guess that does help a little," Hannibal mused. 

Josie nudged his shoulder with her own. "Besides, you really want to see their faces when they realise you're married to their king. Right?"

"Another good point." Hannibal nodded. "Okay, what the hell are we hanging about out here for?"

He took a deep breath and walked straight through the main doors. 

It was daytime so the vampires were all sleeping and this was the time that the familiars could take advantage of the mansion and all its modern toys. As they always had, they lounged on the furniture, watched the giant TV screens or played on the games consoles; all of them acting as though they owned the place. They all froze at Hannibal's entrance though.

"You have some nerve to enter this place," one of the women that Hannibal remembered as belonging to Virago hissed. "My mistress will have you killed for your audacity, mongrel."

"Maybe he's here because he missed us," Pedro mused. "Maybe he enjoyed what we made him do like the freak I've always said he is."

Hannibal had always hated Pedro and his stupid face.

"Firstly, _you_ didn't make me do shit, you jumped up bloodsucker wannabe," Hannibal shot back. "Secondly, Virago can _try_ to kill me but if she does, she'll end up a pile of dust at your feet and then what will you do?"

He ducked to avoid the vase that had been thrown at him and gave the woman an incredulous look before spinning on his heel and slashing his elongated claws through Pedro's throat as the man ran at him, nasty looking blade in hand.

"Shit!" he hissed, holding his hand to his chest where his recently healed wound panged in complaint.

"You killed Pedro!" A new familiar that Hannibal had never seen before yelped, looking at Pedro's body in shock.

"Oh, you're in for it now," Virago's woman told him. "When Lord Drake finds out that a werewolf has killed a favoured familiar he will lift this silly ban he's put on hunting werewolves."

Hannibal rolled his eyes. "I really don't think that Drake will give a shit."

"I do not," Drake agreed, finally stepping into the room.

All the familiars immediately dropped to their knees; most of them sending Drake coy looks as if they thought that he would steal them away from their current masters to become the king's familiar instead. Idiots.

"You are still in pain," Drake asked, staring with concern at where Hannibal's hand was still pressed to his chest. 

"Just a twinge, nothing to worry about," Hannibal reassured him. "Where's Asher?"

Drake had filled him in that morning on exactly how he had found Asher the previous night and Hannibal wanted to check on him. 

"He is in my suite," Drake told him, which was no help because Hannibal had no idea which suite that would be.

"It was the library before Lord Drake joined us here," the new familiar said at Hannibal's pause, keeping her eyes fixed on the carpet beneath her knees. "Danica renovated it last year."

"Right, okay," Hannibal said and then headed in that direction.

He could hear Josie ordering the familiars to clean up and get rid of Pedro but Drake followed him through the mansion to the doors of the old library.

"I'd like to speak with him alone," Hannibal said, pausing outside the door. 

When Drake nodded, he ducked closer to steal a quick kiss and then entered the room alone. Asher was sitting on the floor, knees up with his head resting against them.

"Come to thank me?" he asked without raising his head.

"I have actually," Hannibal told him, dropping to sit beside him on the luxurious carpet and looking around curiously. "I can't believe she got rid of that old library. It was the best room in this dump."

Asher shrugged. "You know Danica. If she decides she wants something..."

"...the rest of us are screwed," Hannibal intoned along with him. "You look like shit, Ash."

"Yeah." Asher nodded. "It's been...a trying few years."

"Since I left," Hannibal guessed.

Asher sighed. "She lost her shiny new toy so went back to the old broken one. No, don't fucking apologise. I'm glad that you got away."

Hannibal swallowed the apology he'd started and they both lapsed into silence, lost in their thoughts. Asher had once spent a night sitting with Hannibal, making sure that the wolfsbane Danica had forced down his throat didn't kill him. Hannibal had been feverish but he remembered Asher talking to him, trying to distract him with tales from his own life. He doubted that Asher meant for him to remember anything that had been said but Hannibal had never forgotten finding a kindred spirit in this living hell. Someone who hated and was tormented by Danica as much as he was, except Asher had put up with it for close to a century and he couldn't fight back because Danica was his sire. She'd turned her own fucking twin so that she could spend eternity punishing him for being their parent's favourite.

"What the hell are you doing here, anyway?" Asher suddenly asked, lifting his head to look at Hannibal for the first time since he'd entered the room. "And what the fuck is going on with you and Drake? He protected your little clubhouse, then there was the random phone call and last night he went tearing off after you when I told him you were in danger."

Hannibal raised his left hand. It took a moment but he could see the moment that Asher spotted the ring and realised what it meant.

"Tell me that you married that hot little warrior chick of yours and not my fucking king!" 

"Well, technically, _he's_ fucking King." Hannibal smirked while Asher groaned at the truly terrible joke, just like he'd hoped; anything was better than the despair he'd been giving off. "And he's given me the Talos clan as a wedding present."

"What?!"

"So, tell me, Asher..." Hannibal gave him a vicious grin. "If you were in my place, what would you do with your sister?"

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Six hours later, the two of them walked into the same prison cell that Asher had been in the night before to find that Josie had left Danica in the exact same position. Except Danica clearly wasn't as good at keeping her balance because the left side of her face was smouldering and the room was filled with the stench of burnt hair. The other difference was that Josie hadn't gagged her and she immediately started to yell.

"Get me the fuck out of here, now!" She screeched. "Asher! Kill King and set me free!"

Asher blinked in astonishment and then slowly a genuine, joy filled smile broke over his face. 

After a long talk between the three men when Hannibal had let him back into his own suite, Drake had deemed Asher trustworthy and loyal enough to be Hannibal's personal guard (despite Hannibal protesting that he could look after himself, thank you very much). As such, Asher had been granted a drink of Drake's blood. The result was that Asher had become stronger and quicker and Drake's new claim had overridden Danica's sire's claim. Although Asher clearly hadn't truly believed that part until now.

Danica screamed. "I said..."

"I heard you," Asher told her evenly. "But, you know, I think that silver's your colour, Dani. Especially with those fetching red blotches the chains are burning into your skin. You're working it, sis, so I think we should leave you to it for a while. Say, another two days?"

"That sounds good to me," Hannibal agreed. 

"No! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Danica shouted as they walked back out of the room. "I gave you a fucking order, Asher!"

Asher gave her a toothy smile. "Funny thing, I don't answer to your orders anymore, sister mine. Enjoy the next couple of days, I know I will."

With that Asher closed the door on Danica's continued yelling. 

"Man, that felt good."

"It really did."Hannibal agreed. "I think that I'm going to enjoy this punishment malarkey."

"I have some ideas you can use," Asher told him.

They were quiet for a moment, their spark of humour clearly underlined with pain-filled memories of their own punishments at her hands. 

Hannibal shook off the mood as they walked through the destroyed metal door and into the mansion proper. Drake was waiting at the end of the corridor and Hannibal sighed.

"Shit! It's time to face the rest of the clan."

Asher clapped him on the shoulder and already Hannibal could see a difference in the other man now that Danica's shadow had lifted from him. "This is going to be fun...my lord."

"Oh, you can fuck right off with that noise." Hannibal pointed at him and Asher just laughed as he prodded him down the corridor.

"I'll be there to protect you, princess."

"Are you ready, husband?" Drake asked when they reached him, cutting off Hannibal's squawks of indignation. 

"No," Hannibal admitted, scrubbing his hand over his face before he deliberately straightened up and took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this."

He pushed open the doors to the meeting room and immediately most of the waiting vamps jumped to their feet, snarling at the werewolf in their midst. 

"Hello, guys and gals. Did you miss me?" Hannibal asked as he sauntered his way to Danica's tacky throne at the end of the ostentatiously long table.

Asher followed close behind but Drake and Josie stopped just inside the doors, leaning against the wall.

Hannibal was surprised that no one had tried to attack him yet but he guessed that they were too surprised. Shrugging mentally he dropped down onto the throne and loudly thumped his feet up onto the table. That seemed to unfreeze them and one of Danica's sycophants, Hannibal thought her name might be Lacey or possibly Tracey, ran at him. Calmly he pulled out his gun and shot a UV bullet right into her chest before she even got close to him.

He killed two more vamps before they seemed to realise that running head on at a guy with a gun that could actually kill them wasn't the best idea.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Virago hissed but she wasn't talking to Hannibal, her question was directed at Asher who was standing beside him. "You are just going to stand there and let this cur defile your sister's throne and pick us off?"

"Yep, pretty much." Asher nodded and Hannibal snorted in amusement. "But it's not Danica's throne anymore."

"Spoilers!" Hannibal protested and Asher shrugged.

"You were taking too long to get around to it."

"What are you talking about?" Bernard demanded. "Where's Danica?"

"Danica's a little busy being tortured in the basement, right now," Hannibal told him. "There's a new clan leader in town."

There was a ripple of shock through the room and they all turned to look at Drake.

"Hannibal King-Alucard is the new leader of the Talos clan," he acknowledged with a smirk. "You will answer to him from now on."

Hannibal scrunched up his nose. 

"Hmmm...I'm not sure about the double barrelled thing after all. It sounds weird. Does it sound weird?" he asked Asher, who tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Alucard-King?" he tried, even as he reached out to catch a dagger that he been thrown at Hannibal.

"Nice catch. Who the fuck threw that?" Hannibal asked and rolled his eyes as several of the vamps quickly pointed at the culprit. "There is seriously no loyalty among you lot is there?"

He shot the knife thrower, then shrugged and took out two of the snitches too. 

Hannibal dropped his feet to the floor and leaned forward in his seat. "Alright vamps and fams, here's the situation. I don't like you and you don't like me but I've married your king and he's given you all to me." 

"Married?" Virago asked faintly before she sat down with a thud.

"Married," Josie confirmed with a shit eating grin. "And a beautiful ceremony it was too."

"So...you really are in charge of us?" another vampire asked. "A werewolf in charge of a vampire clan?"

"Crazy, right?" Hannibal said. "It has all the ingredients for a screwball sitcom. It could be a ratings winner if the right network buys it. Unfortunately for you, this isn't TV and I spent five years being tortured by you fuckheads."

"Basically, you're screwed," Asher interpreted and Hannibal nodded in agreement.

He pulled his cell out of his pocket and sent a quick text before hitting a button on the desk to pull up the building's surveillance footage on the large TV screens. Moments later, the screens showed the Nightstalkers and all of the hunters who had so far agreed to the alliance enter the mansion, armed to the teeth.

This time all of the vampires and familiars got to their feet.

"Stop!" Ordered Drake with power behind his word and all the vampires froze in place.

The familiars seemed to be torn between those who thought it best to stay with their master and those who still made a rush for the door. Josie quickly stopped the latter by moving to stand in front of their escape route.

“You can’t do this to us!” Virago cried, clearly struggling to fight Drake’s influence. “We’re the Talos clan for fuck’s sake!”

Hannibal shrugged. “That doesn’t seem to mean a whole lot right now, does it?”

She snapped her teeth at him ineffectually and he just laughed. 

The hunters all arrived and Josie stepped aside to let them into the room. Unsurprisingly, none of the familiars tried to make another run for it in the face of all that weaponry.

“This building is now hunter property,” Hannibal informed the room and swallowed a chuckle at the shock on the faces of vampires and hunters alike. “That includes all of the databases and whatever artefacts that Drake doesn’t want for himself.”

Josie cleared her throat.

“Whatever artefacts that Drake, Josie or Asher don’t want for themselves,” he amended without losing a beat and earned a wink from Josie. “It also includes weaponry, vehicles, cash and whatever the fuck ever is left over after we four have picked through it.” He indicated himself, Drake, Josie and Asher. 

He didn’t really want anything that this godforsaken clan had but he'd suddenly had an idea about selling enough to get themselves a new home because he didn’t want to live in this place but he didn’t think that Drake would want to live in the type of hovel that Hannibal usually bedded down in. 

“What about us? Where are we supposed to go?” Siobhan asked even though she had already stopped struggling and seemed resigned to her fate. 

“Funny you should ask,” Hannibal replied. “According to Asher here, there is a whole other level of cells beneath the ones I lived in; more than enough for all of you. God only knows why Danica had them installed but, bless her black heart, they will come in very handy.”

“Fuck you, Hannibal King!” hissed one of the newer vamps that Hannibal didn’t really know.

“Hannibal King-Alucard,” Drake corrected.

Hannibal returned the smile his husband gave him. “Alucard-King.”

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

It took about an hour but soon the vamps and familiars were locked down in the cells that Asher had told them about and the hunters were beginning to tentatively explore this new windfall they’d been given.

“Are you sure about this?” Abby asked, sidling up to Hannibal. “This could all be worth a fortune. The building alone…”

Hannibal shook his head. “I just want enough to be able to get out of here. And it’s the least I can do, after everything you’ve all done for me, Abs.”

She nodded in understanding. “Okay good. Because if Drake’s plan goes tits up, we’re going to need all the help and resources we can get.”

“What are you going to do with the vampires?” Dex wandered over to join them. “You’re not giving them to us too, are you? Because that’s a gift I could do without.”

Hannibal chuckled and shook his head, “No, they’re still mine to figure out what to do with and I’m kind of leaning towards a battle royale; the last one standing gets to leave and never come back or some shit like that. Maybe we could sell tickets to it.”

He laughed along with the other two but he wasn’t sure that he was entirely joking about that. Then Drake caught his eye and the other man gave him a slow smile that pulled Hannibal in like a magnet.

“Are you ready for your surprise?” Drake asked when Hannibal reached him. 

A glance around the room confirmed that everyone else was still busy exploring and cataloguing. So he nodded. 

“Yeah, let's go see what terrible gift you think is romantic.” He smiled as he spoke to let Drake know that he was joking and the other man rolled his eyes as he led Hannibal out of the mansion. 

Once again, Hannibal was struck by how much Drake enjoyed walking through the city and resolved to do it with him as often as possible. Especially if Drake continued to point out things which he found interesting or unusual and which, more often than not, were things that the rest of the world tended to take for granted. Hannibal was enjoying the walk so much that he didn’t realise where they were until he was suddenly blinking up at ‘The Paradise Towers’. 

He wrinkled his forehead in confusion. “This great surprise is in there?”

Drake smiled and shook his head. “It is the surprise. I bought it. For you.”

Hannibal looked at Drake, then at the crumbling building and then back at Drake again. 

“You bought me a hotel?” he asked, slowly.

“I bought you _our_ hotel,” Drake replied, reaching out to stroke along Hannibal’s jaw affectionately. “I could not let you spend a single night at the Talos mansion, not after all that happened to you there. I know that this building is neglected but I intend for us to repair it and turn it into a home where we can…”

Whatever Drake was going to say next was lost as Hannibal launched himself at his new husband, kissing him for all he was worth. He’d known exactly what Hannibal needed and had bought them a home; they didn’t have to stay at that glass monstrosity for any time at all. 

Drake chuckled and pulled Hannibal closer. “I take it that you approve,” he asked between kisses. 

“This dump? Best wedding present ever,” Hannibal quipped with a wide grin. “Do you think our room is still available?”

“I have made sure that it is,” Drake told him and Hannibal chuckled; of course he had.

He hummed as he took Drake’s hand. “You know, I’ve heard this rumour that wedding night sex is the best sex there is. But I’m not the type of guy who buys into rumours; I always prefer to test things out for myself.”

“That is very prudent of you,” Drake told him with a smirk. 

Yeah, Hannibal the Prudent Wolf; that’s what they call me.” Hannibal laughed. “So, wanna go and test this rumour out? For science?”

Drake’s eyes sparkled with humour as he let Hannibal drag him towards the door of the hotel. “Well…if it is for science…”

Before they actually went inside, Hannibal stopped, dropping the joking for a moment to show the genuine emotion that he was feeling. “Thank you. Seriously, it means a lot to me that you did this.”

“Anything for you, my love,” Drake replied with that intensity that still, and probably always would, make Hannibal squirm uncomfortably. 

Drake did love him, it was clear for everyone to see; he didn’t try to hide it. Hannibal wasn’t there yet, it was difficult to tear down those walls he’d built to protect himself, but he had to admit that he was well on the way. He leaned close to give Drake a soft, lingering kiss; a tender promise to the both of them that he would get there one day.

Then he dragged his husband through the doors of The Paradise Towers to get started on their honeymoon.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-


	11. Epilogue - Drake

Drake was in the middle of listening to, possibly, the most boring report he’d ever been forced to sit through when he felt a familiar tingle at the edge of his senses. 

“That is enough, we are done for the day,” he immediately told the vampire before him and held up a hand to forestall the obvious protest. “Talk to Jolene and she will rearrange this meeting for some time later in the month. I am not available for the rest of today.”

The vampire was obviously a little disgruntled at the sudden dismissal but dutifully packed up his papers and left the office. Drake had a feeling that the next time they met, the report would probably have purposefully been made twice as boring but that was a problem for another day. He pushed himself away from his desk and strode out of the room in time to hear a loud thud followed by an ear-splitting yell of:

“Honey, I’m home!” 

Drake could not stop the grin spreading across his face and he ducked into Jolene’s office. “Cancel everything for the rest of the day.”

Jolene rolled her eyes. “He’s been gone for close to a month, sugar. I’ll cancel everything for the rest of the week.”

Nodding in acknowledgement, Drake then quickly made his way to the balcony which overlooked the large foyer and was finally able to look upon his husband for the first time in weeks. Something inside him began to unknot as he leant on the railing and watched Hannibal and Asher being welcomed home by Celeste, Josie and James before Alfie burst into the room and ran towards Hannibal and straight into a bear hug. The teenager had been near unbearable while Hannibal was away; second only to Drake, according to Josie. 

Hannibal had found Alfie ten years earlier. Just like him, he was the orphan of werewolf parents. In fact, his parents had been the first werewolves killed by vampires after the new laws went into effect. Hannibal had gone to the UK in order to hunt the vampires down and bring them back to Esperanto to face justice from the then newly formed werewolf court. However, he’d also brought back a grief filled five year old child; unable to leave him to the mercy of the human’s child services. The original intention had been to place Alfie with a werewolf family but he and Hannibal had so quickly become attached to each other that Drake had suggested that Alfie stay with them instead. It was not always ideal and Drake sometimes worried that living with the Vampire King and his court was exposing the boy to things he was too young to know but everyone doted on the child and their makeshift family worked somehow.

Josie and James were as odd a couple as they had always been; Josie still adored the scientist and James was still confused as to why but had long since given up questioning his good luck. He had even made overtures recently to Drake about maybe turning into a vampire; stumbling and nervous overtures, of course. Drake would let the man make up his own mind in his own time, he would never force anyone to make that decision and neither would Josie despite how much Drake knew she worried about James aging while she would always remain the same as she was. 

Of all the sex workers who had originally plied their trade from the hotel, Drake had offered to turn two of them and they had both accepted. Jolene had transitioned her mother hen behaviour into her new life, quickly appointing herself as Drake's assistant and simply ignoring any protest from him that he did not need one. Within a month, he had to admit that she had been correct; things began running far more smoothly and he suffered less vexation at the hands of some of the more bothersome clan leaders now that they had to get through Jolene first. She was as loud and brash as ever and she did not suffer fools gladly, something which had left more than one so-called 'luminary' cowering beneath her sharp tongue and sharper stiletto heel. Celeste had taken far longer to settle into her new life. She had been the quietest of the group of women but Drake had sensed a razor sharp intelligence and inner steel that he felt would turn her into a formidable vampire. For those first few years, he had feared that he had made a mistake as he watched her struggle with her new abilities but Josie had taken her under her wing, relishing her big sister role, and slowly but surely Celeste grew into the self confident, inventive vampire that Drake had glimpsed in the shy human. 

The rest of the sex workers had readily agreed to become familiars; it had been less dangerous and better compensated than their current job. Although it took some time before they fully relaxed and agreed with the 'less dangerous' description, which was not surprising considering the rumours and horror stories about vampires that they had heard during their time working on the streets. The majority of the women were still familiars all these years later and a number of them had brought their adult family members into the fold. They were all well cared for, generously compensated and fully respected as familiars should be. 

Asher had seamlessly become part of their family since that very first day Drake had severed Danica's sire hold over him; there had never seemed to be any question within the man that he was not exactly where he wanted to be. Hannibal had explained to Drake one day that Asher regarded them all as the family connection that he should have had with his sister. Hannibal and Asher's friendship had continued to grow, joined as they were by shared horrors. His wolf had been correct, he did not need a guard to protect him, so instead he and Asher had evolved into partners and made an imposing team. They were Drake and Caulder's enforcers who were sent in when problems were suffered by or created by either a vampire or a werewolf. They also, together with Abigail Whistler (leader of the human hunters now that Caulder had stepped down to concentrate fully on the werewolves and Blade had finally disappeared for good), created a team that randomly went to inspect the remaining or newly created vampire clans to ensure that they were abiding by the laws. Most vampires dreaded the day that the three of them showed up unannounced in their various cities but they were not foolish enough to make a move against them; and not just because they feared what Drake would do to them in such an instance but because they were aware that they might not win that battle. 

As he watched, Hannibal whispered something to Alfie that made him roar with laughter and the happiness inside Drake at having his family made whole again grew even more. But he had allowed the others enough time to welcome Hannibal home; it was Drake's turn. He turned, headed down the staircase and had barely made it off the last step before his husband tackled him to the ground. 

"I wondered when you were going to stop brooding up on that balcony and come down here." Hannibal sat on his lap and grinned down at him. "I was beginning to think that you weren't pleased to see me."

"Not brooding, just enjoying the view," Drake said and then pulled Hannibal into a kiss that made it clear just how happy he was to see him, ignoring the usual orders to 'find a room' from Alfie and Asher and wolf whistling from Josie. "Welcome home. Do not leave for so long next time."

"I'll try not to," Hannibal replied with a small but genuine smile.

"If you do then take him with you," Alfie said loudly. "He's been so grumpy ever since you left. It's been a nightmare."

Drake pushed himself up onto his elbows in order to raise an eyebrow at the teenager "Did you not get yourself banned from Jolene's office because of your incessant moaning that she would not video call Hannibal three times a day?"

Hannibal choked on his laughter. "Aww, my boys. I missed you too."

Alfie poked his tongue out at Drake but was clearly too happy that Hannibal was home to get into one of his infamous adolescent sulks. Instead he rushed away as quickly as he had arrived; no doubt to send a message and update Zoe on Hannibal's arrival. The two children had become instant friends and remained so despite Zoe and her mother retiring from hunting and moving to a quiet town in the country.

With a chuckle, Hannibal pushed himself to his feet and then wasted no time dragging Drake to their private suite.

"Alone at last," he waggled his eyebrows at Drake in what he always thought was a seductive move but really just made him look adorably ridiculous. 

"Whatever will we do?" Drake asked with a smile.

Hannibal threw his arms open wide. "Why don't you get your pretty ass over here and show me just how much you missed me?"

Drake laughed. "As you wish."

He crossed the space between them in a few strides and lifted Hannibal, who automatically wound his legs around Drake's waist. Then they were devouring each other with all the desperation of lovers who had been apart for far too long.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Dawn was breaking by the time the pair sprawled exhausted and finally satisfied across their bed.

"How was Caulder?" Drake asked, idly running his fingers through his husband's hair as Hannibal lay with his head on Drake's chest. 

He did not need to ask about the mission Hannibal and Asher had left on; he would have heard already if there had been any problems and he knew that there would be a report waiting on his desk by that afternoon because Asher was very organised when it came to paperwork. 

"Surprisingly well groomed," Hannibal replied. "I think he may actually be trying to court someone. But he wouldn't tell me who."

Drake chuckled. "This surprises you?"

"Not really," Hannibal admitted. "Even after a decade's passed, he's still a paranoid old fart. He's had more reports of Blade sightings, by the way. He didn't want me to tell Abs but it's not up to us what she chooses to think so I messaged them to her."

"Does she still believe that Blade is alive?" 

Hannibal shrugged. "I think it's more that she wants him to be. That him being alive keeps her dad's memory alive or some shit like that. And it's not like she spends her days searching for him, she just likes to hear the sighting reports when we get them."

"He _is_ dead," Drake said quietly.

"I know," Hannibal replied with a small sigh. "I like to think that he went out happy that he helped take out at least seventy five percent of all of vampires. But this is Blade we're talking about; he probably went out scowling and yelling a big 'fuck you' at the world."

"That is probably true," Drake agreed.

It had actually been closer to eighty percent of vampires when all was said and done. Daystar had worked almost exactly as intended. When the six elders and their guards arrived at the old Talos mansion, they and Drake had observed the ancient rites of kinship which involved trickling some of their own blood into ceremonial chalices which Drake had Asher unearthed from Danica's collection of relics. Unbeknownst to the elders, the chalices had been spirited away during the meeting which followed and taken to Caulder, Sommerfield and James. They had then incorporated each of the elder's blood samples into separate vials of Daystar which James then brought to Josie. 

The six vampires who had once been part of Drake's own tribe had been so twisted by greed and gluttony that they were virtually unrecognisable from the people he had known. Even though he had been expecting it, it was still disheartening to witness and any small part of Drake that still held out hope for an alliance with any one of them crumbled to dust. He had had no compunction about what he was about to do.

As expected, the elders had tried to reason with Drake about his proposed new laws; claiming that he did not understand how the world worked since he went to sleep. When that did not work, they argued and then flat out refused to 'obey the antiquated laws of an obsolete ruler'. It was when they collectively ordered their guards to attack Drake and his court that Josie smashed the first vial to the ground. 

The repercussions within the room were almost instantaneous. Hrodvaldr's guards stumbled and then dropped their weapons to the ground in order to claw at their throats as they gasped for air. While Hrodvaldr watched on in horror, his vampires began to turn grey and one by one died right there on the floor of the Talos mansion. Even the other guards had halted their attack to watch the proceedings with a clear sense of foreboding dawning on their faces. Hrodvaldr scrambled to activate his cell device but was unable to connect to whoever he was trying to call. Then a hunter run into the room to confirm that a group of vampires gathered in the park opposite the mansion had suddenly begun to have trouble breathing before dying one by one. Any blood remaining in Hrodvaldr's face had drained away at the news, confirming to all present that those were his vampires. 

Drake calmly and carefully explained to the entire congregation what had just transpired and what it meant for the entire house of Hrodvaldr and its numerous clans. Then, one by one, he and Josie had smashed each of the remaining vials. The vampires had run to try and escape the virus but were infected before they got very far; killing all of them until only the elders remained and only four of them at that; Bricius and Pora had actually been affected by the virus themselves and perished along with their progeny. 

News had quickly began to pour in via the hunter networks of swathes of vampires in Esperanto and the surrounding areas simply falling to the ground dead. This was followed in the coming days and weeks by similar reports of vampires in other cities, then other countries, until it was clear that Daystar really had spread across the whole world. It even made the human news, explained away by a short lived but deadly ailment that their doctors could not explain because the bodies disintegrated when touched.

In a matter of hours, they had set events in motion which wiped out most of the vampires in existence.

Unsurprisingly, the remaining vampire houses and clans had fallen over themselves to swear allegiance to Drake and his new laws while the remaining four elders had been put into cells where they remained to this day; forced to live with the knowledge that everything they had created had been taken from them. 

Hannibal lifted his head to look at him, pulling Drake away from those memories. "Was Alfie really that bad while I was gone?"

Drake gave a heartfelt 'yes!' and Hannibal chuckled.

"And were you really that bad?"

"Maybe," Drake admitted to his husband's further amusement. 

"Well, I'm back now," Hannibal said. "And wild horses couldn't drag me from this bed for at least...hmm...three days."

Drake smirked. "Actually, Jolene has cleared my calendar for a whole week."

"Even better!" Hannibal laughed and leaned up for a kiss. "Missed you too. Love you."

Drake never got tired of hearing that proclamation and he grinned into the kiss. "I love you too, my wolf."

Things were not perfect, there would be no need for Hannibal and Asher to be sent out on missions if they were, and Drake knew that there would be battles to fight in times to come; it was the nature of people. But for now, his family was reunited and his love was back in his arms. It was close enough to perfect for him.

** The End **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I couldn't find a way to fit a couple of points into the epilogue so I will discuss them here.   
> Danica is long dead. Hannibal and Asher had a bit of fun getting a small measure of revenge but, ultimately, neither wanted to drag it out. The sooner she was gone, the sooner they were completely free of her. 
> 
> \- As for the rest of the Talos clan; I had an idea that Asher would point out certain members who he believed could be useful to Drake, mainly the newer vampires and familiars, so they were released and put under Josie and Asher's supervision until they had proven themselves. As for the rest, I really don't know. I like Hannibal's Battle Royal idea but I'm not sure that the others would have let him do it. Feel free to come up with your own ideas for them and let me know :)
> 
> \- I also like to think that Caulder moved to a remote forest area of Western Europe where he set up a sanctuary for werewolves to rebuild their lives free from danger. He still kept in contact with everyone via video link and acted as an ambassador for the werewolves in much the same way that he had led the hunters in Esperanto. Hannibal made a point of spending at least a couple of full moons a year with him.


End file.
